Stuart Depot

02/12/2026

A friend recently gave me her copy of the iaarchitect (the official magazine of AIA Iowa) dated Summer 2015 with this Stuart Depot article.

11/13/2025

Posted by Robert Cook on the Stuart Hometown page: This made me smile this morning. October 2001, the Depot Restoration Committee, Inc. received a $3,000 grant from the RITS and Bryon Weesner. Doris Bench and Wayne Cook accepted the check in this Stuart Herald photo. The depot was still a disaster at the time and this was one of numerous steps in the funding and restoration process. Today the much used and enjoyed depot is a beautiful testament to historical preservation and community pride.

09/08/2025

The Stuart Depot recently got connected the Steel Highway Railcam. Watch the live feed here: https://www.bing.com/videos/riverview/relatedvideo?&q=City+of+Stuart%2c+Iowa+Live+Railcam+-+Stuart%2c+IA+%23steelhighway&qpvt=City+of+Stuart%2c+Iowa+Live+Railcam+-+Stuart%2c+IA+%23steelhighway&mid=43027E0F466A8CCACDEB43027E0F466A8CCACDEB&&FORM=VRDGAR

To help support this we**am and other similar projects please follow this link and subscribe today - http://Steel-Highway.comFollow this link to donate and h...

01/18/2025

The depot has acquired two new display cases for the artifact room, which are filling up fast. Please do not hesitate to contact us if you wish to visit the Stuart and Railroad collection.

09/29/2024

I spotted two people enjoying our Jack Kerouac bench at the Rock Island Depot Friday night!

09/17/2024

The Rock Island Stuart Depot was added to the National Register of Historical Places on February 19, 1980

07/29/2024

07/18/2024

The Stuart Depot board is thrilled to announce an addition to the Depot made possible with a grant from Empowering Adair County Foundation. A bench and plaque were installed outside the Stuart Depot to commemorate a memorable passage from Jack Kerouac’s iconic novel “On the Road”. This passage describes Kerouac and his companion’s visit to Stuart, capturing a unique moment in our town’s history.

The passage on the plaque reads:
“We stood in front of the railroad-ticket shack in Stuart, waiting for the westbound traffic till the sun went down, a good five hours, dawdling away the time…I decided to spend a buck on beer; we went to an old saloon in Stuart and had a few…We got back on the road in the darkness, and of course nobody stopped and nobody came by much. That went on till three o’clock in the morning. We spent some time trying to sleep on the bench at the railroad ticket office, but the telegraph clicked all night and we couldn’t sleep….so when the Omaha bus came through just before dawn we hopped on it and joined the sleeping passengers…”

The goal of this project was to enhance our historic downtown and boost tourism in Adair County. Visitors traveling along the White Pole Road Byway and Western Skies Scenic Byway, as well as those stopping by the Stuart Depot, will have a new spot to reflect on Kerouac’s journey and enjoy the charm of our town.

Thank you to Empowering Adair County Foundation and Jim Henderson and Mason Barkley from Stuart Public Works for installing the bench and plaque.

12/01/2023

Robert Cook accepted the Empowering Adair County Foundation grant today on behalf of the Stuart Depot. The Depot Committee submitted a grant to place a bench and plaque outside the depot to provide a visual representation of the passage from Jack Kerouac’s novel “On the Road” about a stop the author and a companion made in Stuart at the Depot while traveling across the country.

12/01/2023

Robert Cook accepted the Empowering Adair County Foundation grant today on behalf of the Stuart Depot. The Depot Committee submitted a grant to place a bench and plaque outside the depot to provide a visual representation of the passage from Jack Kerouac’s novel “On the Road” about a stop the author and a companion made in Stuart at the Depot while traveling across the country.

Thank-you to our 2023 grant recipients for attending this morning's check presentation!

Nearly $128,000 was presented to organizations throughout Adair County including the following: Adair County Conservation Board, Adair County Extension, Adair County Health & Fitness Center, Adair County Hot Shots 4-H Club, Adair County Tourism Council, Boys and Girls Club of Central-Southwest Iowa, Bridgewater Community Fire Department, Canine Miracles for Heroes, City of Bridgewater, City of Greenfield Police Department, Eureka Township, Greater Greenfield Community Foundation, Greenfield Fire Department, Iowa Aviation Museum, Little Smiles and Co, Nodaway Valley High School Booster Club, Orient-Macksburg School, Orient United Methodist Church, Stuart Police Department, Stuart Rock Island Depot, Wallace Centers of Iowa, and Warren Cultural Center.