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The early railroad service in Blair dates back to February of 1869 when the Sioux City &
Pacific Railroad finished a line from the Missouri River at Blair west to Fremont.1
In March of that year, the the Railroad completed the
first passenger depot in Blair,2
and a part of was used as a hotel and eating-house.3
The First Depot
- Built 1869
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"Blair House"
1869 Depot & Hotel |
This Hotel/Depot was located
next to the east/west tracks just west of old Walker Ave., (today 16th
Street.) This location was used as a freight depot in the 1880's.
The 1889 Sanborn shows the Chicago, St. Paul, Minneapolis & Omaha Passenger
Depot located on the north/south railroad line in the corner of old 8th
Street (today 13th Street) and Lincoln Street -- location of the present day
Kelly's Fish Market.4
Click here for more on the 1869 Depot.
The Second Depot
- Built 1880
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"1880 Depot"
built at ___ & __- Streets |
The 1882 there is mention that
"a beautiful passenger depot has been built by the Chicago, St. Paul,
Minneapolis & Omaha and Sioux City & Pacific railroads at Blair"
5 causing one to believe that
both Railroad lines joined in building an passenger depot. Most
likely, these early depots were a simple wood framed structure.
Click here for
more on the 1880 Depot.
The Third Depot
- Built 1910
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"Brick Depot"
West End |
In 19106,
a new brick depot was built and it is this building that many of the local people today refer to as "The Old
Depot" just north of the corner of 14th & Front Streets. framed structure.
Click here for more on the 1910 Depot
Its unique design was planned
to fit into the "Y" created by two merging railroad tracks. Its
elegant interior, with its tiled floors, served many passengers before the
last passenger train June 3, 1950. The building stayed empty
on the Union Pacific lot until October 19, 1987 when it was quickly demolished
with little input from the local citizens.
The tracks through Blair still
carry heavy west bound traffic. |
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| 1History
of Nebraska: From the earliest Explorations of the Trans-Mississippi
Region, by J. Sterling Morton and Albert Watkins.
[Link]
2
History of the State of Nebraska; A. T. Andreas, 1882
(It is noted that the
Baptist Minister from Cuming City, the Rev. E.G. Groat, preached the first
sermon ever delivered in Blair on the platform of the new depot in April
1869.) [Link]
3
History of the State of Nebraska; A. T. Andreas, 1882
"the present Sioux City & Pacific depot was completed in March, 1869,
a part of it being used as a hotel and eating-house."
[Link]
4
1889 Sanborn Map
Sheet 4
5
History of the State of Nebraska; A. T. Andreas, 1882
"The stations opened
during the year 1881 are Wakefield, Wayne, Flournoy, Craig and Hiland. A
beautiful passenger depot has been built by the C., St. P., M. & O. and S.
C. & P. R. R., at Blair."
"The present S. C. & P. depot was completed in
March, 1869, a part of it being used as a hotel and eating-house."
"The Sioux City & Pacific running through from east to west, twenty miles;
and the Chicago, St. Paul, Minneapolis & Omaha, twenty miles, running
through from north to south. These two roads have completed an elegant and
commodious frame union depot at Blair. "
[Link]
[Link]
6
Historic Railroads of Nebraska; Michael M. Bartels, James J.
Reisdorff. Arcadia Publishing
See also: A
Town Named Blair by Lou Schmitz
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EARLY BLAIR |
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On March 10,
1869, total sales for the first lots in Blair sold for $100,000. During that
summer and fall, the town grew with “great rapidity.” The new town appeared
to hold great promise since John I. Blair plotted his new city directly
across the river from the Sioux City & Pacific railhead in Iowa.
Almost
immediately after the town was established, the railroad set tracks in the
city and moved west. By 1875, a depot existed and as noted by John Bell the
“company set a good example in the matter of tree planting, having, in the
first settlement of the place, themselves planted out a handsome little park
directly in front of the depot.” Once the Omaha and Northwestern railroad
laid tracks moving north and south, the need for a larger and more advanced
depot in Blair became evident.
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East/West Line:
Chicago & Northwestern
(C.& N.W. R.R.)
Fremont, Elkhorn &
Missouri Valley (F, E & M.V. R.R.)
(Sanborn Map 1902)
This was mis-marked.
Sioux City & Pacific
R.R.
(S. C. & P. R.R.
(Sanborn Map 1897)
North/South Line:
Chicago, St. Paul, Minneapolis & Omaha Railroad
(C. St. P. M. & O. R.R.)
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