Palo Pinto County, Texas
|
City |
Railroad |
Current Location |
Type |
Current Use |
Date Built |
Track Status |
Bldg. Mat. |
Current Railroad |
Notes |
Field Checked |
|
Mineral Wells |
Weatherford Mineral
Wells & North Western (Texas and Pacific) |
200 block of South
Oak Avenue (US 281) |
C |
offices |
1903 |
gone, now a rail
trail |
brick |
none |
heavily modified |
3/10 |
|
Mingus |
Texas and Pacific |
moved to Thurber |
C |
storage |
|
none |
wood |
none |
|
9/05 |
|
Santo |
Texas and Pacific |
located short
distance south of tracks |
C |
storage |
|
in use nearby |
wood |
UP |
|
9/05 |
|
Strawn |
Texas and Pacific |
corner of Garfield Avenue/Bruner
Street |
C |
|
|
|
|
|
see below for previous location. |
|
|
Strawn |
Texas and Pacific |
moved to Stephenville (Erath Co.) |
F |
private storage |
|
none |
wood |
none |
|
5/11 |
From
Strawn Advocate July 2014: After being sold and moved from Strawn in the late
1970’s, the historic Strawn train depot arrived home on May 17, 2014. The
Strawn Historical Museum Board of Directors has worked for almost two years to
relocate the depot from Oakdale (near Stephenville) to its present location at
Memorial Park across from the railroad tracks.
The depot was first moved to Thurber next to the Smokestack Restaurant, where
it remained for several years. It was later bought and moved to Oakdale where
the warehouse portion of the depot was used as part of the Oakdale Steakhouse, owned
and operated by Todd Fanning.
The
office portion of the depot (with ticket windows and waiting rooms) was placed
in a field next to the owner’s house. After contacting the owner in the fall of
2012 and learning that he was willing to donate the depot to Strawn, the Museum
Board began raising money and planning its return. Much of Strawn’s early history
centers around the railroad. Stephen Bethel Strawn, for whom the city of Strawn
was named, laid off his property for the new town in 1879 and 1880. According
to historical accounts, he gave every other block to the Texas and Pacific
Railroad to encourage the company to bring their rails through the new
settlement. After the Texas and Pacific Railway Company rolled into Strawn on
July 4, 1880, the town began to develop. The coming of the railroad brought
supplies of lumber, feed, and other essential products, thus encouraging new business
ventures. The railroad also brought in immigrants to work in the coal mines and
thriving coal industry in the area, which further spurred the growth of Strawn.
In May 1976, long-time railroad depot agent Jim Chesnut ended 27 years as the
Strawn depot agent when Texas and Pacific Railroad decided to close the depot.
The relocated depot will be a restoration project by the Strawn Historical Museum. Short-term plans are to repair the outside (clean, paint, replace broken windows and rotten/missing boards), with long-term plans to restore the inside of the depot and eventually display donated items pertaining to the Strawn railroad and depot. The Museum received a $10,000 grant to help with the cost of moving the depot, along with donations from others.
Compiled by M. J. Camp, Bill Holdsworth and Elizabeth
Guenzler, Railroad Station Historical Society, Inc.
Last updated 3/1/2025