Our History
March 1, 1900
Growth
The number of railroads providing service to Fort Worth grew dramatically during the 1880s and 1890s, and by the turn of the century the city felt the need for a new railroad depot to handle the increased traffic. Although the name of the architect is not known, this structure was built by the contracting firm of Smith and Bardon at an approximate cost of $50,000. When it first opened on March 1, 1900, the station served the Gulf, Colorado and Santa Fe and the Houston and Texas Central railroads. Other lines operating out of the Fort Worth Union Depot, as the station was first called, included the Cotton Belt, Rock Island, Southern Pacific, and the St. Louis and San Francisco Railway.
February 21, 1901
Restore
At 5:00 AM, a fire in the basement furnace rose to the roof, burning the wooden framework between the station roof and the metal ceiling. The roof collapsed, but the following day it was reported the building could "probably be restored with comparative ease, the walls, it is thought, being intact with little damage done outside the roof," according to the Dallas Morning News.
March 11, 1905
Prevail
Inside, the main waiting room was two stories high with an arched barrel-vaulted ceiling. The Depot’s tin roof and plaster detailing is original from the roof rebuild after the 1901 fire. The marble flooring shown in this photo is also original and intact today.
May 29, 1938
Modernize
In 1938 The Depot was renovated as part of an extensive program undertaken by the Fort Worth Union Passenger Station Company and the Santa Fe Railroad. Architects removed and replaced the old brick portico with the current projecting canopy and “redecorated and brought up to date” the interior.
August 22, 1960
Change
The Depot served several lines until 1960, when the Santa Fe became the sole railroad using the facility; the building was renamed The Santa Fe Depot. Amtrak operated passenger rail service out of the station between 1973 and 1995. Throughout the Twentieth Century, the Depot served several rail lines; however in 1960, the Santa Fe became the sole railroad operating out of the facility. As a result, on August 22 of that year, the Fort Worth Depot was renamed the Santa Fe Depot, a name it held for the next forty years.
November 16, 1998
Desolation
Once the site of three presidential visits (Franklin D. Roosevelt, Dwight D. Eisenhower, and Lyndon B Johnson), The Santa Fe Depot fell into disrepair after Amtrak left in 1995. Despite its designation as a Recorded Texas Historic Landmark in 1970, it became one of the city’s most endangered historic structures as it was slated for demolition. In 1998 the building was purchased by Shirlee and Taylor Gandy who took on the monumental task of saving The Depot.
2006
Preservation & New Beginnings
Restored to its former glory, The Ashton Depot opens as a premiere event venue and caterer in downtown Fort Worth
The Depot's Historical Journey
