The rise of a city: Legacy of the Hannibal and St. Joseph Railroad

By Leah Rainwater

St. Joseph is full of many histories, and one integral part of its past and growth is the implementation of railroads.

If you look along the corner of Eighth and Olive streets, you’ll see grass growing over abandoned, rusted train tracks. 

St. Joseph was home to the first railroad that ran east to west across the state of Missouri.

“The Hannibal and St. Joseph Railroad extended across the state of Missouri. It got into St. Joseph in 1849 on Feb. 14,” said Gary Chilcote, the director of the Patee House Museum. “It took 15 years to build across from Hannibal to St. Joseph … that’s about 206 miles.”

Before the railroad, traveling west across the state was a chore.

But since St. Joseph was in the process of expanding, it served as a considerable location for settlers to travel west. 

“In 1846, the newspaper’s calling, ‘Hey, we’re this up-and-coming organization, or this town, and we need to be connected to those cities in the east.’ There’s a great editorial from the 1846 paper,” said Sarah Elder, the manager of the Remington Nature Center. 

The funding for the railroad came from bonds and payment matches from notable townspeople.

“The state legislature basically incorporated the Hannibal and St. Joseph Railroad,” Elder said. “They pledged a certain amount of money in bonds if part of that money could be matched by the incorporators, which included Joseph Robidoux, John Corby, some of those big historic St. Joe names.”

The railroad was as far west as passengers could travel by train until after the Civil War.

One recognizable name was Robert M. Stewart, who served as the president of the railroad for about 12 years.

Stewart became a Missouri governor, and played an important role in getting the Hannibal and St. Joseph Railroad up and running. 

Since its incorporation in the 1840s, the railroad saw various owners and suffered various hardships.

One notable tragedy was the destruction of the Platte River Bridge in 1861.

“In February of 1861, the Platte River, 10 miles east of St. Joseph, was spanned by a railroad bridge, and the Confederates found out that the railroad was sending a passenger train across. They thought it was soldiers, but it was passengers,” Chilcote said.

Confederate soldiers burned the bridge, causing the train to plunge into the river.

“One of the greatest disasters, at least in this part of the country, was the destruction of the Platte River Bridge in 1861,” Elder said. “Which was a horrific disaster, something … it was a form of what we would call ‘domestic terrorism’ today.”

Chilcote said 17 people were killed and over 100 were injured.

Seeing as St. Joseph didn’t have a hospital at the time, victims were brought to the Patee House to be tended to. 

When it comes to bridges, something noteworthy about the Hannibal and St. Joseph Railroad was the innovation it brought to the Midwest.

The railroad allowed for bridges to be built over the Missouri River in some cities like Kansas City and Leavenworth.

However, before the bridges were built, the Hannibal and St. Joseph Railroad had what was called a “packet line,” where passengers could board the train and ride it all the way to St. Joseph.

They would then board a steamboat that would take them all the way up to Omaha. Or, the steamboat would go across the river to Kansas where people could pick up another train.

Not only did the railroad carry passengers, but it transported mail and supplies for the city. It also carried supplies for soldiers in the war.

With the services the railroad provided, among other things, it is an important piece in St. Joseph’s history. 

“If you’re crossing railroad tracks in St. Joe, just remember that you’re crossing something that’s been there for over 150, approaching 170 years now,” Elder said.

“It’s important to St. Joseph’s history definitely because this is the only railroad that had its name attached to it,” Chilcote said.

Eventually, the railroad was bought out by the Burlington Northern Railroad, which is now known as BNSF.  

With St. Joseph being founded in 1843 and having quickly worked its way up regarding commerce and trade in the West, it’s no surprise usage of the railroad was granted to the city.

It helped not only bring people to the “last western stop” in the state of Missouri, but also brought permanent settlers and aided in St. Joseph’s role in the Civil War. 

Even now, remnants of this history can be found throughout St. Joseph.

“If people are traveling east on Highway 36, they’re essentially following the route of the Hannibal and St. Joseph Railroad,” Elder said.

Whether you’re traveling through the Stockyards or even if you’re just Downtown for the day, you can hear the close echoes of train whistles.

Elder said the sounds even make their way up to the Remington Nature Center. 

“We’re fairly close here at the nature center, getting close to being outside city limits. So I can hear that high, lonesome sound coming from north, or as they get out of city limits, as they’re approaching the crossing. So, that sound is … it evokes a lot of positive memories for me. Plus it’s … it’s the sound of history in St. Joseph.”

Now, there’s been more of a push to bring passenger trains back to Missouri. Elder said the last passenger train came through St. Joseph in the early 1970s. 

“There’s trains running through Kansas City and St. Louis now. It’s a wonderful trip. I’ve been from Kansas City to Jefferson City; there’s talk about a high-speed loop between Kansas City and St. Louis. Other countries do a phenomenal job, to the great success of traveling by train,” Elder said.

However, plans to possibly bring passenger trains back to St. Joseph are underway.

In October of 2022, the Missouri Department of Transportation submitted a federal funding request to study possible future Amtrak lines from Kansas City to St. Joseph. 

In May of 2024, MoDOT selected a consultant to conduct a feasibility study for a proposed Amtrak line in St. Joseph, connecting it to Kansas City. 

When asked if the abandoned tracks could possibly be used again, Elder said there’s no telling.

“You know, they are still there, the tracks are still there. So it, maybe they’re feasible, maybe they’re not, I don’t know,” Elder said.

There has been no update on the implementation of Amtrak expansion yet, other than the fact that the study began in mid-2024.

But until then, the empty tracks will remain Downtown to serve as a reminder of the history and sacrifices the railroad brought to St. Joseph.