The Kilgore I&GN-Missouri Pacific Railroad Station

Duane's take

Here's my telling of what the official marker says about the Kilgore I&GN-Missouri Pacific Railroad Station. Now settle in, because this is a story that starts with one man's good instincts and ends with a whole city rising up around him. C.

B. 'Buck' Kilgore was living over in Danville, about four miles east of where we're standing, when the International Railroad Company came knocking. In 1871, Buck donated a two-hundred-foot railroad right-of-way, and the company liked what it saw well enough to buy land from him and plat an entire town on it. Now, Buck wasn't the kind of man to miss what that meant.

He recognized the economic opportunities the railroad was bringing, so he went ahead and built himself a new home right there near the station. And when the folks back in Danville saw what Buck was up to, well, they followed his lead. A community took root, and they named it for the man himself.

The station was completed in 1872, built to handle passenger service, freight, and to act as a communications center for the agricultural and lumbering country all around it. For years, that was the rhythm of the place. Timber and crops moving out, travelers moving through.

Then 1931 arrived, and everything changed. Oil was discovered in what became known as the East Texas Oil Field, and the volume of shipments rolling out of the Kilgore station increased dramatically. Just like that, a quiet depot became a nerve center.

Then came World War II, and the station took on a whole different kind of weight, a steady stream of troop trains passing through, carrying young men to destinations nobody wanted to think too hard about. The line itself became known as the Missouri Pacific in 1956. But the world kept shifting.

Automobiles, buses, air travel, all of it chipped away at the rails, and in 1977, the Kilgore station was closed. That depot still stands today, a reminder of the role rail transportation played in building Kilgore and the whole of East Texas. One man donates a right-of-way, and a hundred years later you've got a city.

That's East Texas arithmetic right there.

What the marker says

The town of Kilgore was platted by the International Railroad Company after it purchased land for a townsite from C. B. "Buck" Kilgore, who had donated a 200-foot railroad right-of-way in 1871. Kilgore, a resident of Danville (4 mi. E), recognizing the economic opportunities afforded by the railroad, soon built a new home near the station. Many other Danville citizens followed Kilgore's lead, and a community was established and named for him. This railroad station was completed in 1872 to provide passenger and freight service and to serve as a communications center for this agricultural and lumbering area. In 1931 oil was discovered in what became known as the East Texas Oil field, and the volume of shipments from the Kilgore station increased dramatically. Later, World War II provided the depot with a steady stream of troop trains. The rail line became known as the Missouri Pacific in 1956. As automobile, bus, and air travel became more popular, rail traffic decreased, and in 1977 the Kilgore station was closed. The depot stands today as a reminder of the significant role rail transportation played in the growth and development of Kilgore and East Texas.