Katy Heritage Society to celebrate historic 125-year-old depot

By George Slaughter, News Editor
Posted 1/12/23

The Katy Railroad Park, 5615 1st St., features a depot and caboose that are iconic pieces of Katy’s heritage. The depot turns 125 this year, and the Katy Heritage Society is throwing a birthday party for it this weekend.

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Katy Heritage Society to celebrate historic 125-year-old depot

Posted

The Katy Railroad Park, 5615 1st St., features a depot and caboose that are iconic pieces of Katy’s heritage. The depot turns 125 this year, and the Katy Heritage Society is throwing a birthday party for it this weekend.

The public celebration is from 2-4 p.m. Saturday at the park. Adrienne Davitz, Katy Heritage Society president, said the caboose is being opened for tours for the first time.

“Even our own city administrator (Byron Hebert) hasn’t been on that caboose,” Davitz said.

Davitz said Saturday’s activities also include a trackless train for kids, the unveiling of a historical marker and cookies (as part of the birthday cake).

Davitz said the depot building has stood for at least 125 years, but she did not know precisely how long it has actually stood. The 125-year figure is the best research the society has, she said.

The celebration also commemorates the salvaging of the depot itself. The railroad company that built the depot was set to demolish it in 1979, Davitz said. When some local citizens heard of these plans, she said they worked with city officials of that time and purchased the building.

Davitz said the building was judged to be not in great condition, but it was in good enough condition to be saved. The railroad company then asked that the building be moved, as it was on company property. Katy citizens teamed up again and moved it. It was first moved to Katy City Park, at the intersection of Avenue D and Franz Road. The depot and caboose were both moved in 2006 to their current 1st Street location.

Moving the depot and caboose took some work. Luckily, Davitz said, many of the older homes in Katy had been moved multiple times over the years. There were people in Katy that knew how to perform such tasks.

“We had three big name moving companies that moved houses all the time,” Davitz said, adding that they could pick up and move a house to a new location in days. So it was with the depot and the caboose.

Davitz said some of the streets near the park will be shut down for the celebration and urged visitors to park at City Hall, 901 Ave. C.

City of Katy, Katy Railroad Park, Katy Heritage Society