Old Depot Museum
Franklin County Historical Society
135 West Tecumseh Street
Ottawa, Kansas 66067
(785) 242-1250

 Adults:  $5   Students:  $2
preschoolers free

Tuesday-Friday 10AM - 3PM
Saturday 10AM - 4PM    Sunday 1-4PM

Ottawa Railroad Depot Map

General store at Ottawa Old Depot Museum
Ottawa Railroad Depot
Ottawa Railroad Depot - Ottawa, Kansas

The Ottawa Railroad Depot in Ottawa, Kansas was constructed in 1888 and served as the Division Headquarters of the Kansas City, Lawrence, and Southern Kansas Railway. Southern was a subsidiary of the Santa Fe Railway and they later merged. The depot was given to the the Franklin County Historical Society in 1962 when the Santa Fe moved into a new depot. The museum opened to the public on July 4, 1963.

I wish the Old Depot Museum had focused on the railroad history, but other than a model railroad layout, it has gone more the direction of historical museums across the state, with recreations of a schoolroom, general store, dentist's office and Victorian parlor, plus native American displays and miscellaneous military items.

One of the highlights of the Old Depot Museum is a display relating to this region of Bleeding Kansas and abolitionist John Brown.

model railroad at Ottawa Old Depot Museum.
Model railroad which began in 2965


Postcard developer and printer used by
J. B. Mueche in the 1950s.


schoolroom mockup

Ottawa Railroad Depot Map - Ottawa, Kansas
Ottawa Railroad Depot Map

Franklin County Historical Society website
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copyright 2006-2018 by Keith Stokes