The Kilgore I&GN-Missouri Pacific Railroad Station
Kilgore, Gregg County, Texas
Marker Inscription
The town of Kilgore was platted by the International Railroad Company after it purchased land for a townsite from C. B. "Buck" Kilgore, who had donated a 200-foot railroad right-of-way in 1871. Kilgore, a resident of Danville (4 mi. E), recognizing the economic opportunities afforded by the railroad, soon built a new home near the station. Many other Danville citizens followed Kilgore's lead, and a community was established and named for him. This railroad station was completed in 1872 to provide passenger and freight service and to serve as a communications center for this agricultural and lumbering area. In 1931 oil was discovered in what became known as the East Texas Oil field, and the volume of shipments from the Kilgore station increased dramatically. Later, World War II provided the depot with a steady stream of troop trains. The rail line became known as the Missouri Pacific in 1956. As automobile, bus, and air travel became more popular, rail traffic decreased, and in 1977 the Kilgore station was closed. The depot stands today as a reminder of the significant role rail transportation played in the growth and development of Kilgore and East Texas.
Erected by Texas Historical Commission
The Story
The town of Kilgore owes its existence to the railroad, which platted a townsite in the early 1870s on land tied to C. B. "Buck" Kilgore, who had donated a right-of-way and lent the community his name. This depot, completed in 1872, handled passengers and freight and served the surrounding farming and lumber country. When oil was struck nearby in the early 1930s, the station's shipments surged, and it later saw troop trains roll through before rail traffic faded and the depot closed in 1977.
Why it matters
The rise and quiet decline of this depot mirrors the whole arc of American rail towns, which the railroad first conjured into being and then, a century later, largely left behind.
The story behind this marker
AI contextThe era
In the years after the Civil War, railroads were remaking Texas. Wherever new tracks went, towns sprang up, and wherever they didn't, older towns often withered. East Texas in the early 1870s was a land of farms and pine forests, and a rail connection could decide whether a community had a future.
The International Railroad was pushing its line through this region, and the company did what railroads across the country were doing: it bought land, laid out a townsite, and sold lots to settlers drawn by the promise of the tracks. The depot became the town's front door, its link to markets, mail, telegraph news, and the wider world.
For its first decades, Kilgore served farmers and lumbermen, shipping cotton, timber, and other goods from the surrounding countryside. Then, in the early 1930s, everything changed. The East Texas Oil Field turned out to be one of the largest oil discoveries in American history, and it set off a boom in the depths of the Great Depression.
People & events
The town takes its name from C. B. "Buck" Kilgore, a resident of nearby Danville who saw the railroad coming and understood what it meant. In 1871 he donated a 200-foot right-of-way for the tracks, and the railroad company then bought land from him for a townsite. Kilgore didn't just profit from the deal. He moved, building a new home near the station. Many of his Danville neighbors followed his lead, and the new community took his name.
The station was completed in 1872 and quickly became the hub of local life. It carried passengers and freight and acted as the area's communications center at a time when the telegraph at the depot was often the fastest link to the outside world.
When oil was discovered in the East Texas field, Kilgore exploded almost overnight. Shipments through the station increased dramatically as the town filled with oil workers, equipment, and money. A decade later, World War II brought a different kind of traffic, with steady streams of troop trains passing through. In 1956 the line became part of the Missouri Pacific. As Americans turned to cars, buses, and airplanes, rail traffic dwindled, and in 1977 the station closed its doors.
Its place in the American story
Kilgore's depot tells, in miniature, the story of the American railroad town. Across the country, railroads didn't just serve existing communities. They created new ones, choosing townsites and drawing settlers away from older places. The movement of Danville's citizens to the new railroad town of Kilgore was repeated in countless communities from Texas to the Dakotas.
The station also connects to one of the great economic events of the twentieth century. The East Texas oil boom poured wealth into the region during the Great Depression and helped make Texas synonymous with oil. That oil was a major resource for the nation during World War II, the same war that sent troop trains rolling past this depot.
Finally, the station's closing in 1977 reflects the national shift from rails to highways and airways in the decades after the war. The depot survives as a monument to an era when the railroad was the lifeline of nearly every American town.
If you visit
Stand by the old depot and imagine it in its prime. Picture farmers unloading cotton in the 1870s, the frantic oil-boom traffic of the 1930s, and the troop trains of the 1940s, filled with young men bound for war. The building is a direct link to each of those chapters.
Kilgore is a must for anyone interested in oil history. The town is famous for its oil derricks, many of them preserved as a reminder of the boom years. The area also celebrates its petroleum heritage through local museums, which make a natural companion to this stop.
The depot fits easily into an East Texas road trip through piney woods, small-town main streets, and the heart of oil country. Take your time downtown, where the railroad and the oil boom together shaped nearly everything you see.
Written by AI to add context, grounded in the marker’s inscription and the historical record. The inscription above is the original, unaltered text.
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Related people
- · C. B. "Buck" Kilgore
Related events
- · Discovery of the East Texas Oil Field
Themes & tags
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