The Old Depot Museum is a history museum located in

Ottawa, Kansas Ottawa (pronounced ) is a city in, and the county seat of, Franklin County, Kansas, United States. It is located on both banks of the Marais des Cygnes River near the center of Franklin County. As of the 2020 census, the population of the c ...

. The focus of the museum is primarily on the regional history of Franklin County, and the importance of trains to the development of small towns. It features history of local Native Americans, local industries, and has accurate recreations of historical rooms. The Old Depot Museum is on the

National Register of Historic Places The National Register of Historic Places (NRHP) is the United States federal government's official list of districts, sites, buildings, structures and objects deemed worthy of preservation for their historical significance or "great artistic v ...

History

The Leavenworth, Lawrence, and Galveston (LL&G) railway was the first

railroad Rail transport (also known as train transport) is a means of transport that transfers passengers and goods on wheeled vehicles running on rails, which are incorporated in tracks. In contrast to road transport, where the vehicles run on a pre ...

in Kansas to be built south of the

Union Pacific railroad The Union Pacific Railroad , legally Union Pacific Railroad Company and often called simply Union Pacific, is a freight-hauling railroad that operates 8,300 locomotives over routes in 23 U.S. states west of Chicago and New Orleans. Union Paci ...

Lawrence, Kansas Lawrence is the county seat of Douglas County, Kansas, Douglas County, Kansas, United States, and the sixth-largest city in the state. It is in the northeastern sector of the state, astride Interstate 70, between the Kansas River, Kansas and Waka ...

. This railway was 30 miles long and connected Lawrence to

Ottawa Ottawa (, ; Canadian French: ) is the capital city of Canada. It is located at the confluence of the Ottawa River and the Rideau River in the southern portion of the province of Ontario. Ottawa borders Gatineau, Quebec, and forms the core ...

. It was constructed primarily by

Chinese railroad workers The history of Chinese Americans or the history of Overseas Chinese, ethnic Chinese in the United States includes three major waves of Chinese emigration, Chinese immigration to the United States, beginning in the 19th century. Chinese immigrant ...

from 1867 to 1868. In 1873, the LL&G railway failed and was sold to the Kansas City, Lawrence, and Southern Kansas Railroad, who constructed a train depot in northern Ottawa in 1888. The depot was designed by George Washburn, and made with

limestone Limestone ( calcium carbonate ) is a type of carbonate sedimentary rock which is the main source of the material lime. It is composed mostly of the minerals calcite and aragonite, which are different crystal forms of . Limestone forms whe ...

from Cowley County. In 1895, the depot was sold to

Santa Fe railway The Atchison, Topeka and Santa Fe Railway , often referred to as the Santa Fe or AT&SF, was one of the larger railroads in the United States. The railroad was chartered in February 1859 to serve the cities of Atchison and Topeka, Kansas, and S ...

, who kept it until railroads fell out of popular use. In 1962, the depot building was donated to the Franklin County Historical Society, who turned the building into a museum the following year. The museum opened on the

4th of July Fourth or the fourth may refer to: * the ordinal form of the number 4 * ''Fourth'' (album), by Soft Machine, 1971 * Fourth (angle), an ancient astronomical subdivision * Fourth (music) In music a fourth is an interval spanning four staff po ...

, 1963. The museum received a grant from the

ISTEA The Intermodal Surface Transportation Efficiency Act of 1991 (ISTEA, pronounced ''Ice-Tea'') is a United States federal law that posed a major change to transportation planning and policy, as the first U.S. federal legislation on the subject in ...

in 1996, and closed for three years to undergo major renovations. In 2001, a high water marker was placed on the outside of the Depot to commemorate the

Great Flood of 1951 In mid-July 1951, heavy rains led to a great rise of water in the Kansas River, Missouri River, and other surrounding areas of the Central United States. Flooding occurred in the Kansas, Neosho, Marais Des Cygnes, and Verdigris river basins. ...

. The marker stands high, the highest that the water of

Marais des Cygnes river The Marais des Cygnes River ( , ) is a principal tributary of the Osage River, about long,U.S. Geological Survey. National Hydrography Dataset high-resolution flowline dataThe National Map, accessed May 31, 2011 in eastern Kansas and western Miss ...

reached during the flood.

Exhibits

Permanent exhibits

Model train

One room of the museum is dedicated to an

HO scale HO or H0 is a rail transport modelling scale using a 1:87 scale (3.5 mm to 1 foot). It is the most popular scale of model railway in the world. The rails are spaced apart for modelling standard gauge tracks and trains in HO.NMRA"M ...

model train Railway modelling (UK, Australia, New Zealand, and Ireland) or model railroading (US and Canada) is a hobby in which rail transport systems are modelled at a reduced scale. The scale models include locomotives, rolling stock, streetcars, t ...

, with both

steam Steam is a substance containing water in the gas phase, and sometimes also an aerosol of liquid water droplets, or air. This may occur due to evaporation or due to boiling, where heat is applied until water reaches the enthalpy of vaporization ...

and

diesel trains A diesel locomotive is a type of railway locomotive in which the prime mover is a diesel engine. Several types of diesel locomotives have been developed, differing mainly in the means by which mechanical power is conveyed to the driving whee ...

. The model train shows the railroad and Franklin County as it looked in the 1950s, and includes structures that exist around Franklin County.

Historic room recreations

The Old Depot Museum has historic room recreations that show what building interiors may have looked like in the

Victorian era In the history of the United Kingdom and the British Empire, the Victorian era was the period of Queen Victoria's reign, from 20 June 1837 until her death on 22 January 1901. The era followed the Georgian period and preceded the Edwardia ...

. This includes a

parlor A parlour (or parlor) is a reception room or public space. In medieval Christian Europe, the "outer parlour" was the room where the monks or nuns conducted business with those outside the monastery and the "inner parlour" was used for necessar ...

, a general store, a

soda fountain A soda fountain is a device that dispenses carbonated soft drinks, called fountain drinks. They can be found in restaurants, concession stands and other locations such as convenience stores. The device combines flavored syrup or syrup concent ...

, a dentist's office, and a

one room school house One-room schools, or schoolhouses, were commonplace throughout rural portions of various countries, including Prussia, Norway, Sweden, the United States, Canada, Australia, New Zealand, the United Kingdom, Ireland, and Spain. In most rural and s ...

The soda fountain display room is based on the Bennett Creamery, which was once a commercial shop in downtown Ottawa, Kansas.

The one room school house is available to be booked for

field trip A field trip or excursion is a journey by a group of people to a place away from their normal environment. When done for students, as it happens in several school systems, it is also known as school trip in the UK, Australia, New Zealand and ...

s, and students can come visit and experience what a school day would have been like in one room. Visiting children even wear

pinafore A pinafore (colloquially a pinny in British English) is a sleeveless garment worn as an apron. Pinafores may be worn as a decorative garment and as a protective apron. A related term is ''pinafore dress'' (known as a ''jumper'' in Ameri ...

s and

suspenders Suspenders (American English, Canadian English), or braces (British English, Australian English) are fabric or leather straps worn over the shoulders to hold up skirts or trousers. The straps may be elasticated, either entirely or only at attach ...

, clothing that children would have worn during the time of one room school houses.

Bleeding Kansas

One permanent exhibit is focused around

abolitionist Abolitionism, or the abolitionist movement, is the movement to end slavery. In Western Europe and the Americas, abolitionism was a historic movement that sought to end the Atlantic slave trade and liberate the enslaved people. The British ...

John Brown John Brown most often refers to: *John Brown (abolitionist) (1800–1859), American who led an anti-slavery raid in Harpers Ferry, Virginia in 1859 John Brown or Johnny Brown may also refer to: Academia * John Brown (educator) (1763–1842), Ir ...

, and the Pottawatomie Massacre. This exhibit was created by Traub Design associates in 2007, and its creation was made possible through a grant from the Kansas Humanities Council. The exhibit involves an "immersive" element, in that instead of a traditional visual museum exhibit, visitors go into a dark room and listen to accounts from family members of people murdered in the massacre and people who supported the attack, recorded by voice actors.

Caboose

A caboose from the 1940s stands outside of the museum. It was donated by Ron and Deanna Kimes. The caboose was dedicated on Sunday, April 28, of 2013 in conjunction with an event that focused specifically on the history of Kansas railroad workers. The museum has considered adding a rail car to their outdoor exhibit as well, but are worried that it will be vandalized or damaged.

Temporary exhibits

Crossings

"Crossings: Getting Over, Around, and Through Water in Franklin County" is a temporary exhibit at the museum that opened on June 4, 2017, and will run through August 20, 2017. The exhibit explores the relationship that Franklin County has with water, especially the

. A central feature of the exhibit is a 34-foot map of the Marais des Cygnes which encompasses the floor of the exhibit. The exhibit is part of a larger initiative to focus on the relationship between people and water, and was supported by a grant from the Kansas Humanities Council to achieve that goal.

Secret Societies

The

Secret Societies A secret society is a club or an organization whose activities, events, inner functioning, or membership are concealed. The society may or may not attempt to conceal its existence. The term usually excludes covert groups, such as intelligence a ...

exhibit at the Old Depot museum ran from August 14 to November 14 of 2016. The full title of the exhibit was “Secret Societies: The Search for Security, Knowledge and Fellowship in Ottawa and Franklin County.” The exhibit explored the purposes of various secret societies in Franklin County, although the overarching theme was about Franklin County residents searching for community. Some of the secret societies featured were either secret abolitionist groups, like the Danites created by James Lane, or pro-slavery groups. A less seriously themed group was named the Esoteric and Terrible Order of Pie Eaters, which was a

fraternity A fraternity (from Latin language, Latin ''wiktionary:frater, frater'': "brother (Christian), brother"; whence, "wiktionary:brotherhood, brotherhood") or fraternal organization is an organization, society, club (organization), club or fraternal ...

formed in 1868 in response to the Members of the Grange fraternity, which was more serious and exclusionary, and well known for eating cake. The Old Depot museum claimed that the views of the Pie Eaters fraternity were more far reaching than simply making fun of the Grangers, saying they also “had grand plans of doing away with currency and paying with pieces of glass, banishing all women to

New Jersey New Jersey is a state in the Mid-Atlantic and Northeastern regions of the United States. It is bordered on the north and east by the state of New York; on the east, southeast, and south by the Atlantic Ocean; on the west by the Delaware ...

, and achieving world domination while wearing pie plates around their necks and calling each other by titles like the ‘Grand Gyrasticutas’ and the ‘Grand Gabster.’" The museum hosted an event that included many of the Pie Eaters secret initiations, and served several types of pie.

Small-Town Ball

"Small-Town Ball: Playing America's Game in Ottawa and Franklin County" was an exhibit about local baseball teams in Franklin County. The exhibit included information about school teams, company teams, and competitive traveling teams. Along with the exhibit was a presentation by Phil S. Dixon about Negro Leagues Baseball and the

Kansas City Monarchs The Kansas City Monarchs were the longest-running franchise in the history of baseball's Negro leagues. Operating in Kansas City, Missouri, and owned by J. L. Wilkinson, they were charter members of the Negro National League from 1920 to 193 ...

. The Monarchs played in barnstorm games in Ottawa at least five times. The exhibit also featured a documentary screening of "Town Teams: Bigger than Baseball" at the local Plaza Cinema movie theatre, which focuses on the importance of small local baseball teams across Kansas.

George P. Washburn

In 2007, the Old Depot Museum had a temporary exhibit featuring George Washburn, the architect who designed the depot. Washburn designed several buildings in Ottawa, Kansas, and the museum hosted a guided tour of his buildings as the exhibit was going on.

Harvey Houses

In 2015, the Old Depot Museum had a special exhibit about Harvey Houses, restaurants that were created along railways by Fred Harvey. The depot in Ottawa never had a Harvey House of its own, but had a Harvey cart that served coffee and sandwiches. This exhibit also paired with the local Plaza movie theatre to show " Harvey Girls," a movie starring

Judy Garland Judy Garland (born Frances Ethel Gumm; June 10, 1922June 22, 1969) was an American actress and singer. While critically acclaimed for many different roles throughout her career, she is widely known for playing the part of Dorothy Gale in '' The ...

, about Harvey Houses and the women who worked in them.

Other temporary exhibits

* Franklin County Photographers * Franklin County's Contribution to

World War I World War I (28 July 1914 11 November 1918), often abbreviated as WWI, was one of the deadliest global conflicts in history. Belligerents included much of Europe, the Russian Empire, the United States, and the Ottoman Empire, with fightin ...

and

World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposin ...

* Historic

Textile Textile is an umbrella term that includes various fiber-based materials, including fibers, yarns, filaments, threads, different fabric types, etc. At first, the word "textiles" only referred to woven fabrics. However, weaving is not the ...

s * Founding of Ottawa * Local Quilts

Trails

The Old Depot Museum marks the beginning of the Prairie Spirit Trail. This trail is 33 miles long and follows what used to be a railroad track, which originally began at the Santa Fe Depot. This trail was Kansas' first "

rail-trail A rail trail is a shared-use path on railway right of way. Rail trails are typically constructed after a railway has been abandoned and the track has been removed, but may also share the right of way with active railways, light rail, or streetcar ...

." The museum can also be a

trailhead A trailhead is the point at which a trail begins, where the trail is often intended for hiking, biking, horseback riding, or off-road vehicles. Modern trailheads often contain rest rooms, maps, sign posts and distribution centers for information ...

for the

Flint Hills The Flint Hills, historically known as Bluestem Pastures or Blue Stem Hills, are a region in eastern Kansas and north-central Oklahoma named for the abundant residual flint eroded from the bedrock that lies near or at the surface. It consists o ...

Nature Trail.

References

{{coord, 38.62044, -95.26971, format=dms, type:landmark_region:US-KS, display=title Museums in Franklin County, Kansas History museums in Kansas Buildings and structures in Ottawa, Kansas

Railway stations on the National Register of Historic Places in Kansas Transportation in Ottawa County, Kansas