LG Depot Celebrates Getting Its Texas Historical Marker

On New Year’s Eve, 1880, the first railroad train ever rolled into La Grange, connecting the town and its cotton farmers on “ribbons of steel” to global markets of the port at Galveston.

On Aug. 17, 1887, a second railroad line, later to be known as the Katy, reached La Grange.

In November 1897, a new Katy depot opened in La Grange – a historic building still standing on its original site. These events and more will be celebrated Tuesday, Oct. 22, with the unveiling of La Grange’s newest Texas Historical Marker.

State and local dignitaries will join local rail enthusiasts for the marker dedication at 10 a.m. Tuesday Oct. 22 in front on the depot at 260 N. Washington St. The public is invited to attend, with refreshments to be served afterwards.

Exactly 25 years earlier, the deed to the depot was signed over to Friends of the La Grange Railroad Depot – a group of four local couples who put up $45,000 to buy the historic property. Those founders – Elva and Royce Keilers, Gale and Gary Lincke, Suzy and Arnold Romberg, and Charlene and W.O. Wood – will be specially honored at the marker dedication Tuesday.

Today the depot – thought to be the oldest railroad depot in Texas still in its original location – is owned by the city of La Grange and operated as a museum by Friends of the La Grange Railroad Depot. It currently is one of the most-visited museums in Fayette County.

The depot is open for visitors 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. Thursdays and Fridays and from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. on Saturdays. There is no admission charge.