I stumbled upon this site with Frisco depot floor plans and thought it deserved a "share". Someone has probably beaten me to it, but just in case... http://digitalcollections.missouristate.edu/cdm4/browse.php?CISOROOT=/Depots - Brandon
I looked at several of the floor plans of depots from my home area and found something that struck me as curious. The depots that I looked at were, Anna, Arcadia, Coalvale, Fort Scott, Garland, Godfrey, Hammond, Mulberry, and Pittsburg. Of these, only Arcadia had segregated black and white waiting rooms. I did not know that this was even done in Kansas. But the curious part to me is that none of the other depots either north or south of Arcadia have segregated waiting rooms, (some do have separate men and women waiting rooms). Anyone have any idea why this would be? I'm not aware of Arcadia being a hot bed of racial tension. Most of my ancestors were coal miners in the Garland to Mulberry area, but all are long gone, so I can't ask them.
There is actually quite a bit more at this same site, including paint diagrams for what appear to be "old-timey" rolling stock. There is also this link, which takes you to 370 photos of Frisco-related subjects, including trains, cars, menus, baggage tag, etc. GS http://digitalcollections.missouris...ELD1=CISOSEARCHALL&CISOROOT=all&CISOSTART=1,1
Larry E. Shankles - In 1854 the Kansas-Nebraksa Act overturned the Missouri Compromise boundary between slave and free territory and decreed that local residents would determine whether the area became a free state or a slave state. Between 1855 and 1861 extreme violence by both free-state and pro-slavery advocates was described by Eastern newspapers as "Bleeding Kansas". The state legislature of 1860 passed an antislavery law, but it was declared unconstitutional by the territorial District Court at Leavenworth in late December 1860. The political atmosphere was highly divided, even though Kansas joined the Union as a free state January 29, 1861. Arcadia was platted in 1883 by Lewis L. Jewell, son of Charles Jewell, a Confederate soldier of the Civil War killed in the battle of Cane Hill in Arkansas. The date on the depot plan is 1891. The separate waiting rooms might reflect local sentiments, or the wishes of travellers from Missouri, where the linked article suggests there was considerable racial tension. http://archive.news-leader.com/article/20060414/NEWS01/604140328/1906-lynchings-grew-fro m-tensions-racism
