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 Missouri-Kansas-Texas Railroad Posted by:  paulspaper
N 33° 45.330 W 096° 32.136
14S E 728259 N 3737775
Marker commemorating the "The Katy" in Dennison, Texas.
Waymark Code: WM4FNE
Location: Texas, United States
Date Posted: 08/18/2008
Views: 70
This historical marker is located in the restored Katy Park, orginally built in the early 1900s. There is also a fountain, war memorial and eternal flame in this small park.
Marker Number: 7409
Marker Text:
In 1865 the Union Pacific Railway southern branch was incorporated to build a railroad from the St. Louis-Kansas City area to the Gulf of Mexico. In 1870, with construction completed to the border of Indian Territory, the line was renamed the Missouri, Kansas & Texas Railroad. This title was often shortened to M-K-T, which led to the familiar nickname by with the line is best known -- "The Katy." Following the route of an old cattle trail, the Katy became the first railroad to cross Indian Territory, now the state of Oklahoma, and enter Texas from the north. On Christmas Day 1872, over 100 passengers rode the first Katy train into Denison, a new townsite named for M-K-T Vice President George Denison. The construction and acquisition of branch lines soon extended the Katy east to Greenville, west to Rotan and Wichita Falls, and south to Galveston and San Antonio. By 1904, the system had over 1,000 miles of track in Texas. The railroad transported cattle, cotton, and other crops to market. It also carried passengers on such trains as the "Texas Special" and the "Katy Flyer" before passenger service ended in 1965. Today (1975) Denison is a division headquarters on the M-K-T and the home of about 600 railroad employees.
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Visit Instructions:
Please include a picture in your log. You and your GPS receiver do not need to be in the picture. We encourage additional information about your visit (comments about the surrounding area, how you ended up near the marker, etc.) in the log.
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