Kansas City Southern Railway
American
Architect - AsNotedIn
| Notable Position | Person | From | To |
|---|---|---|---|
| President | Harvey Couch | 1937 | |
| President | John W Gates | 1900 |
Architect - AsNotedIn
| Notable Position | Person | From | To |
|---|---|---|---|
| President | Harvey Couch | 1937 | |
| President | John W Gates | 1900 |
| Y/M/D | Description | Association | Composition | Place | Locale | Food | Event |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Y/M/D | Description | Association | Composition | Place | Locale | Food | Event |
| Architect | Kansas City Southern Depot | Leesville | |||||
| Architect | Kansas City Southern Railway Locomotive 73D and Caboose 385 | Decatur, AR | |||||
| 1897/00/00 | The Kansas City Southern Railroad completes a line from Shreveport to Lake Charles, that runs through and split in Dequincy, also going to Beaumont and Port Arthur, Texas. | Owner | DeQuincy | Louisiana | |||
| 1920/00/00 | Built out of brick, with a tile roof and Mediterranean styling, the Mena Kansas City-Southern Depot opens. | Owner | Mena Kansas City-Southern Depot | Mena | |||
| 1920/00/00 | Kansas City-Southern Depot is built as a single-story, concrete block freight and passenger railroad depot c 1920 in the Plain Traditional style in Decatur, Arkansas. | Owner | Kansas City-Southern Depot-Decatur | Decatur, AR | |||
| 1923/00/00 | Kansas City Southern Depot is built in the Mission Revival style in DeQuincy, Louisiana. | Architect | Kansas City Southern Depot | DeQuincy |
History
The Kansas City-Southern Railroad was the realization of the dream of Arthur E Stilwell, a native of Rochester, New York. Stilwell envisioned a railroad that would be "straight as the crow flies" to connect Kansas City to the Gulf of Mexico. Farmers, ranchers, lumber and coal men were being exploited by the sates charged to ship gods by way of the east, ignoring the ports to the south, in order to get them to waters for European markets. With "his" railroad Stilwell could ship faster, cheaper and preserve the perishables that were often spoiled dong the normal shipping channels. At the age of thirty Stilwell organized the Kansas City Suburban Belt Railroad and in 1889 started the Kansas City, Pittsburgh & Gulf (later named Kansas City Southern), stretching 789 miles to the sea, ending at his namesake, the city of Port Arthur, Texas.
The tracks had been laid to Siloam Springs, Arkansas, only 228 miles from Kansas City, when, in 1893, an economic depression hit. Most other railroads went into the hands of receivers, as did many well established businesses, but not Stilwell. When he needed more money to operate, one of his "hunches" came to him and in February 1894 he left for Amsterdam, Holland, to try and raise the capital from Dutch and German investors.
He had never been to that country before and knew only one person, the wealthy coffee merchant he had met aboard the 5,000-ton steamer in 1885. After two unsuccessful weeks of trying to sell his securities, he spent a couple of days in his hotel rooms thinking, and remembered the Dutchman. He did not remember his name, only that he was a coffee merchant.
He left the next morning for the coffee exchange board, where he obtained a fist of brokers from the doorman, and on the list he recognized De Goeijen. De Goeijen was summand to meet the American and recognized him at once. He was overjoyed to see his old acquaintance, and they left together for a most rewarding luncheon.
Arthur Stilwell set upon one of his best selling jobs and overwhelmed the Dutchman. He convinced him to sell his coffee holdings his go to work for him and his American friends as the agent for the Missouri, Kansas and Texas Trust Company at a salary of $5,000 a year, more than twice his present salary. De Goeijen accepted, and Arthur stayed in Holland to teach the Dutchman to sell the =unties. The Regalement Van Het Arbsas Construction Company syndicate was formed and became the vehicle for their operations in Holland.
Stilwell returned to Philadelphia and went to the offices of Drexel and Company asking them to draw a $500,000 draft on the Bank of Amsterdam. They laughed. He could not seem to convince them that in the middle of an international depression he had raised $3,000,000 to build a railroad through Western Arkansas and Northwestern Louisiana. Finally they were convinced and Stillwell left for Kansas City.
Robert Gillham (for whom the town of Gillham is named) was named Chief Engineer of the KCP&G and the construction company. Gillham had introduced the Cable Car to Kansas City and was Chief Engineer of the Metropolitan Street Railway. Gillham road on horseback south of Siloam Springs to the Arkansas River, surveying the route. The Arkansas bridge site was selected and men put to work. However, the rugged Ozark topography proved too difficult, and Gillham decided to shift the main line west into Indian Territory, reaching Fort Smith by a branch line. Crossing the virgin territory in the midst of the depression began to cause financial troubles for Stilwell and his investors.
A central division point was needed for the railway, and the town of Gentry in Benton county was chosen. Named for Richard Gentry, a chief engineer and Iarge investor. The town was laid out and formed by the Arkansas Townsite Company, a Stilwell firm. George M Craig became the agent for Gentry, and the town was advertised as a future division point on the KCP&G. The town did not boom, and it was decided to move across the state line into Indian Territory, where the first town was formed and named for Stilwell.
Stilwell, Indian Territory, located 30 miles south and west of Siloam Springs, first appeared on the map in 1895. The brick roundhouse was built and contained eight stalls, a 65-fost turntable, a coal chute with a trestle approach, a water tank, depot and fine track yard. Many railroad employees were stationed there. The KCP&G also formed the towns of Howe and Spiro.
Many still did not consider Stilwell a successful developer - until he crossed back into Arkansas, where he became known for his "egoistic" habit of naming towns for himself, friends and Investors. Stilwell's success as a developer partly stemmed from his far-sightedness and salesmanship concerning these new towns. He always went or sent someone ahead of the tracks to write publicity, form parks, recreation sites and tourist attractions so that by the time "his" railroad reached a destination point he would have people to fill up the town.
Stilwell's dream was ultimately fulfilled, as by the arrival of the twentieth century the Kansas City-Southern Railroad had become the principal transportation route for both passengers and freight between the agricultural heartland of America and the Gulf of Mexico. - NRHP, 24 April 1992
As an Amazon Associate I earn from qualifying purchases.