Quanah, Acme and Pacific Depot
100 Mercer St., Quanah, TXConstructed to provide facilities for both rail service and the administrative offices of the railroad company, the Quanah, Acme, and Pacific Depot in Quanah is a fine example of Spanish Colonial Revival architecture. The structure, with architectural integrity virtually intact, represents the settlement and expansion opportunities made possible in then remote Hardeman County when the line was established.
Although created in 1858, Hardeman County, located on the Red River in northwest Texas, remained unsettled throughout the Civil War and Reconstruction periods, primarily due to occupation by hostile Indians and lack of transportation through the hilly terrain. Prior to the mid-1880s, buffalo hunters and a few ranchers were the only white settlers in the area. The Fort Worth and Denver Railroad surveyed the county in 1885 and laid out a townsite for Quanah, named for Quanah Parker, the last war chief of the Comanches. The first town lot was sold in 1886 and by 1890, when the Fort Worth and Denver Railroad went through, the town boasted a population of 1500.
On July 12, 1902, the Acme, Red River, and Northern Railroad was chartered to run from Acme to Red River, connecting the plaster plant at Acme with the Fort Worth and Denver and Frisco Railroads. Plaster from the gypsum plants in Hardeman County was used in the construction of the Columbian Exhibition in Chicago in 1893 and the Louisiana Purchase Exhibition in St. Louis in 1903. In 1909 a decision was made to extend the railroad line westward to provide much-needed transportation facilities for the population. In that same year, the name of the railroad was changed to the Quanah, Acme, and Pacific. The terrain caused difficulties in the construction of the railroad which crossed three rivers and climbed Cap Rock. During its early years, the railroad was a profitable enterprise, providing passenger and freight service to the county. The construction. of highways in the 1930s created a decline in rail usage and today the Quanah, Acme, and Pacific trackage are being considered for abandonment.
The Quanah, Acme, and Pacific Depot constructed in 1909 was used as a passenger depot and a headquarters for the Railroad. Prominently located one block west of Main Street beside the tracks, the building is a fine example of the Spanish Colonial Revival style. This attention to style is indicative of the importance of the railroad to the community and surrounding areas. Currently vacant, the Hardeman County Historical Commission plans to restore the depot with respect for its architectural integrity and convert it to use as headquarters for the Commission with space available for various public activities, thus restoring its service to the community.
Listed in National Register of Historic Places in 1979.
The National Register of Historic Places is the official list of the Nation’s historic places worthy of preservation. Authorized by the National Historic Preservation Act of 1966, the National Park Service’s National Register of Historic Places is part of a national program to coordinate and support public and private efforts to identify, evaluate, and protect America’s historic and archeological resources.