Marshall, TX (MHL)

Ticket Revenue

FY 2011

$591,751

Station Ridership

FY 2011

9,021

Note: Fiscal year is from
October through September.

The Marshall station was built in 1912 by the Texas & Pacific (T&P) Railroad as a passenger station and to house T&P’s eastern regional general administrative offices. The three story, 7,500 square foot building is the only survivor of a once bustling 66 acre shop complex comprised of 75 buildings which included a roundhouse, car shops, a water tower, and a warehouse. Today, the newly restored depot is used as an Amtrak stop as well as the Texas & Pacific Railway Museum.

The exterior of the depot has remained essentially the same since its construction. The striking red brick depot is outlined in white, and the building features a projecting center bay with a prominent porch, giving the station a homey-feel. The inside of the depot has been significantly altered over the years to meet modern railroad needs. It was updated in 1930, as well as in the 1999 renovation, where the whitewash was removed and the red brick was restored.

The former Texas & Pacific 2-8-2 Mikado, #400 and a Union Pacific (UP) caboose stand on the surrounding grounds. The upper level of the depot showcases a balcony where visitors can view the area, including the Harrison County Courthouse (1901) and the historic Ginocchio Hotel (1896).

Marshall (named in honor of Chief Justice John Marshall) was founded on January 30, 1841. Marshall began as a primarily agrarian area, and was once the wealthiest city in Texas, boasting the first telegraph office in the state. It was not until the railroad was built; however, that Marshall experienced its greatest prosperity.

The first railroad in Marshall was the Texas Western (chartered in 1852), which changed its name to the Southern Pacific Railway Company (no relation to the larger SP) in 1856. The SP faced the loss of its charter if service did not begin in Marshall by 1878, and thus was forced to use oxen to pull the first train, as their steam locomotive had not yet arrived.

The early days of train travel were extremely hazardous. A German traveler, Theodore Kirchoff, recalled that on a journey from Marshall to Shreveport, the locomotive ran out of water and wood during a blinding snowstorm, and the train broke apart. The 40-mile trip took 40 hours to complete, and at a stop to load cotton, the drunken engineer started a brawl.

Although the first railroad in Marshall was the SP, the T&P made Marshall a true railroad town. The T&P was the only railroad in Texas with a federal charter. Realizing the economic benefits a railroad’s headquarters would bring, Marshall donated land and $300,000 worth of bonds to persuade the railroad to base their operations in Marshall.

The T&P headquarters were moved to Ft. Worth before the turn of the century, but the Marshall shops remained important until WWII, when dieselization of the railroad occurred. The Marshall depot remained a passenger station until the discontinuance of T&P passenger trains in 1970. Amtrak reinstituted service in 1974.

In the years it functioned as a T&P depot, the Marshall station housed an immigration office and a telegraph office, and saw thousands of passengers pass through, including troops in WWI and WWII.

Sometime in 1974, the last railroad agent left the station empty, and Amtrak passengers had to fend for themselves when arriving in Marshall. The station remained dilapidated until 1988 when UP (the successor to T&P) applied for a permit to tear down the structure. The citizens of Marshall; however, were not ready to part with the historic station.

A chamber of commerce committee prevented the demolition of the station, and in 1990, a not-for-profit group called Marshall Depot, Inc. (MDI) secured a lease of the station from UP. MDI successfully had the depot designated as a Recorded Texas Historic Landmark.

In 1991, funds from individuals, businesses, and the Union Pacific Foundation helped to refurbish the station, and the surrounding grounds were cleaned by volunteers. In 1994 an Intermodal Surface Transportation Enhancement Act Enhancement (ISTEA) grant of $70,000 for architectural planning, followed by $24,000 from MDI, an additional $980,000 from the ISTEA, and finally a required match of &244,000 from MDI funded the large-scale project. The Meadows Foundation of Dallas also donated $84,000 in the form of a challenge grant.

The result is today’s multi-modal facility, which features a waiting area for Amtrak passengers, snack shop, railroad museum, gift shop, tourist information center, and office space. This community effort has preserved history and contributed to the city aesthetic, while simultaneously encouraging economic development and tourism growth. Amtrak recently recognized the community’s efforts by staffing the station every day, rather than five days weekly.

Marshall is known by various nicknames, including The Cultural Capital of Texas and the Athens of Texas. The city was a center of the civil rights movement in the South during the 1960s and 1970s. It holds one of the largest light festivals in the U.S., and is the self-proclaimed Pottery Capital of the World.

It is one of two communities in the U.S. to poke fun at the fire ant (the other is in Georgia). The Fire Ant Festival has an ant calling contest; rubber chicken chunking; gurning (ugly face-making); a diaper derby, and a men's Crazy Legs contest.

Marshall is served by two daily trains.

Amtrak provides ticketing help with baggage at this facility.