America's Highway: I-70 doomed town’s trains, but not its depot

BOONVILLE, Mo. —

The Missouri River, one of America’s original highways, gave birth to Boonville.

But the railroads gave it meaning. Now Interstate 70 is the town’s lifeline.

The passenger station known as Katy Depot was built on a vacant livestock lot in 1912. It soon became the unofficial town center. People

gathered there to gossip and watch the trains, as many as 30 a day, according to people who remember the glory days of trains.

"It was a beautiful building then," said Pat Jackson, secretary of the Boonville Area Chamber of Commerce. "It was always busy. There were lots of

trains coming and going in those days."

Then Interstate 70 was completed in the early 1960s. It slowly reduced the train traffic as cars and trucks whizzed by on the new four-lane, divided highway. Stability gave way to mobility.

“After the interstate, you could watch the increase of semis,” said Jackson. “Today it’s like a semi-sandwich on I-70.”

The final train stopped at Katy Depot in 1986, ending a century-old era of passenger and freight service.

MKT Railroad offered the depot to the Boy Scouts, but the liability insurance was too expensive. There was also talk of making it into a restaurant. Union Pacific eventually bought it for storage. The state Department of Natural Resources later took possession of the decaying building.

Today, thanks to a $425,000 restoration effort, Katy Depot is again abuzz with activity, housing the Boonville Area Chamber of Commerce and Tourist Information Center plus the district offices of the Division of State Parks.

Half of the rebuilding funds came from the federal government, the other half from a community fund-raising drive sponsored by the chamber.

“We did a large swallow,” said Jackson, secretary of the chamber. “The people in Boonville wanted this restored.”

The chamber had the pick of space, choosing the train depot’s ladies’ waiting room for its main offices - and not without purpose.

“They tell us there were no spittoons in here,” Jackson mused.