Old Depot Museum, Railway history museum in Ottawa, United States.

The Old Depot Museum occupies a restored railroad station building dating from 1888, spread across two floors that display exhibits related to regional rail transportation. The collections focus on how railroads shaped local development and settlement patterns.

The Leavenworth, Lawrence and Galveston line reached Ottawa in 1868, built largely by Chinese railroad workers. After it failed in 1873, the Kansas City, Lawrence and Southern Kansas Railroad erected this limestone depot in 1888, designed by George Washburn with stone from Cowley County. Santa Fe bought it in 1895; in 1962 it was donated to the Franklin County Historical Society, which opened the museum on 4 July 1963.

Visitors can walk through recreated rooms that show what daily life looked like in Franklin County, including a schoolroom, general store, dentist office, and parlor furnished in the Victorian style. These spaces reveal how people worked and lived in the region.

The museum is located in a quiet building and can be explored at your own pace across both floors. Visitors should allow about 1 to 2 hours to walk through the rooms and examine the collections comfortably.

In the basement, a detailed model railroad layout developed since 1965 displays miniature scenes of Franklin County locations as they appeared in the 1950s. This elaborate display continues to be refined and expanded by volunteers and staff.