Old Depot Museum

Old Depot Museum

Old Depot Museum Building
Location	135 West Tecumseh, Ottawa, Kansas
Owner	Franklin County Historical Society
Opened	July 4, 1963
Operating season	Year round
Website	www.olddepotmuseum.org

The Old Depot Museum is a history museum located in Ottawa, Kansas. 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 Leavenworth, Lawrence, and Galveston (LL&G) railway was the first railroad in Kansas to be built south of the Union Pacific railroad in Lawrence, Kansas. This railway was 30 miles long and connected Lawrence to Ottawa. It was constructed primarily by Chinese railroad workers 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 from Cowley County. In 1895, the depot was sold to Santa Fe railway, 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, 1963.

The museum received a grant from the ISTEA 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. The marker stands 9.8 feet (2.99 meters) high, the highest that the water of Marais des Cygnes river reached during the flood.