Bancroft Depot
Bancroft Depot
Location: From Wetmore, 5 miles southwest on good gravel road, follow signs.
Contact: Mailing Address--Bancroft Association, P. O. Box 126, Tecumseh, KS 66542
Nearest Towns: Wetmore, Soldier, Goff
Hours: Open Sunday afternoons during the summer, other times by appointment.
Fee: Donations appreciated.
Photos, unless otherwise noted, Copyright Harland J. Schuster. Please do not use without permission.
The
trains don't stop at Bancroft anymore. In fact, today
you'll have a hard time even finding any evidence that a railroad once passed
through this small village in southeast Nemeha County. The restored
Bancroft depot, however, is a good reason to stop at Bancroft. Though
about all that's left of the town is a welding shop, church, and a couple
houses, the old depot holds a surprising variety of both vintage railroad and
local history artifacts from a time long ago when Bancroft was quite the
happening place.
Almost as if to beckon the long gone steam locomotives to return, the schedule board is still displayed. The rail line which passed through Bancroft operated for only a few years, and had ceased operation by the 1920's. It was one of many short railroads in Kansas during that period. Any map made during those days showing the various rail lines is a virtual spider web of rail routes. Many of these were speculative ventures and were doomed to failure from the start. Also, the increasing use of automobiles and the steady decline in rural population took their toll. In addition to these problems, the line which passed through Bancroft was plagued with frequent washouts, especially along the Delaware River in the Vicinity of Valley Falls.
The station man and bystanders await the coming train in this photo, circa 1918. Note the lady in the white dress and elaborate hat, obviously embarking on some sort of journey. A farmer and others also wait. In those days, the local train depot was nearly the only window on the outside world. The telegraph was usually located there, and the mail came and left town at the depot. A trip of any distance almost always made by train. (Photo courtesy of the Bancroft Association.)
A map, circa 1918, shows the spider web of rail lines in the northeast Kansas and south east Nebraska area. The railroad through Bancroft(marked with red line), known as the "Northwest Route", originated in Kansas City and was intended to terminate in Beatrice, NE, though construction was never completed past Virginia, NE. (Courtesy Bancroft Association)
A number of these receipts were found in one of the walls of the depot when it while it was being restored. They're a time capsule in themselves as they document what kind of items were shipped....everything from beer to kegs of nails were brought to town on the rail. Farm produce left the area by the same method. (Courtesy Bancroft Association)
All this history would be no more than barely a footmark in some old book gathering dust on a book shelf had not some ambitious volunteers taken action. Sometime after the rail line through Bancroft was removed, the old depot was sold to a local farmer who moved it to his farm and used it for storage for many years until it once again fell into disuse. The photo at right, courtesy of the Bancroft Association, shows the condition of the abandoned depot before it was moved back to the village of Bancroft and restored.