FIRST Train Depot in Wylie - Wylie, TX
N 33° 00.782 W 096° 32.345
14S E 729884 N 3655422
A sign placed by the Collin County Historical Commission notes this as the location of Wylie's first railroad depot, constructed for the railroad's arrival here in 1886. You'll find it at the northeast corner of TX 78 and S Ballard St.
Waymark Code: WM16M8M
Location: Texas, United States
Date Posted: 08/25/2022
Views: 0
The emblem of the Collin County Historical Commission is above the title, with a photo of the depot below it. The sign reads:
The Gulf, Colorado & Santa Fe Railway Company was incorporated on May 28, 1873, by a group of Galveston merchants and businessmen. They were seeking a direct connection from their port city on the Gulf Coast to the interior parts of Texas. By 1886, the G.C. & S.F. was putting down tracks on what is now the the north side of State Highway 78 in Wylie. This particular section was to connect Dallas to Paris, Texas. The merger of the Atchison, Topeka, and Santa Fe by a syndicate of Boston capitalists expanded the line from Chicago thru North Texas and on to California.
The Santa Fe train depot had a ticket office, waiting room, and storage. Originally south of the tracks towards Hwy 78 there was a water tower to fill the steam locomotives. The Santa Fe depot was the first of two depots in the flourishing town of Wylie. The train would service the community by transporting cotton, corn, onions, and livestock, while bringing dry goods, building supplies and furniture to town. The site remained a central hub until rail transportation began to be eclipsed after WWII by the Interstate highway system and the airlines.
By 1961, the Santa Fe depot was decommissioned and later sold to a local resident who moved it to its current location approximately 3 blocks south. It is now a residential property.
Property of Collin County Historical Commission
2017
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The second depot in town was placed over the next few years by the the St. Louis Southwestern Railroad, best known as the Cotton Belt. As to Colonel Wylie, his grave at the long-neglected Oakwood Cemetery in Dallas recently got a little clean-up.
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