Jacksboro's First Railroad Depot

Duane's take

Here's how the official marker tells it, and I'm going to give it its due. Now, Jacksboro's had its share of characters and its share of stone, and sometimes those two things come together in a way that lasts. This depot is one of those times.

The year was 1898, and the Risley Brothers of Jacksboro were the ones who built it, working in native stone, the kind of material that doesn't apologize for itself and doesn't much care about the weather. They raised it for the Chicago, Rock Island and Texas Railway, right there on a piece of ground bought from F. F.

Foscue, a man worth knowing a little about. Born in 1819, died in 1906, Foscue was a Texas legislator and the owner of Fort Richardson lands. That's the ground this depot stands on.

Think about that the next time you're standing somewhere and wondering what came before. In the style typical of railroad architecture, the depot housed waiting rooms and offices. Nothing fancy in that description, but there's a whole world inside it.

Travelers waiting. Business being done. Trains pulling in and pulling out.

And among those travelers, one name stands above the rest in this story. Mrs. Edith Wilmans, a local rancher, made her way through this station more than once.

She was Texas' first woman legislator, that distinction coming in 1923. She traveled from this very station. The same waiting room, the same stone walls the Risley Brothers laid.

Now, the Rock Island system held onto the structure for a good long run, and then in 1973 they sold it to the Texas Export Railroad Company. The stone is still there. The story is still there.

Jacksboro's first railroad depot, standing as a reminder that the ground under your feet usually has a whole lot more to say than it lets on.

What the marker says

Built 1898 of native stone by Risley Brothers of Jacksboro, for the Chicago, Rock Island & Texas Railway, on site bought from F. F. Foscue (1819-1906), a Texas legislator, owner of Fort Richardson lands. In typical railroad architecture, the depot housed waiting rooms and offices. Mrs. Edith Wilmans, a local rancher, Texas' first (1923) woman legislator, often traveled from this station. The Rock Island system sold the structure in 1973 to Texas Export Railroad Company. Recorded Texas Historic Landmark, 1974.