Come see pioneer heritage that has been carefully preserved for you. The Red River Railroad Museum is located inside the restored Historic Katy Depot in downtown Dension, Texas. Just one hour North of Dallas, you will find thousands of treasued memories from the golden era of the railroads. A museum filled with thousands of rail related artifacts, rows of display cases, every wall covered with photos. Multiple collections of books and maps, everything covering railroad history in the Denison area and beyond. In 1872, the Missouri, Kansas, and Texas Railway established a railhead in the wilderness just south of the Red River in Texas. The town of Denison grew up around it with 3000 folks moving into the new settlement in the first 100 days. The rapidly growing city soon came to be known as the Gate City of Texas.

Dension is famous for numerous historical firsts in the country. These include having the first interurban railway in Texas between Denison and Sherman in 1901. Although no Golden Spike Event was celebrated in the city, the first North-South Trans-Continental rail link occurred in Denison on March 13, 1873.

The Katy Depot is the former passenger station and general office building of the Missouri-Kansas-Texas Railroad. The depot was the center of operations for the railroad till it's merger with the Union Pacific Railroad on August 12, 1988. Also called Union Depot it was the transportation center of the city and was used by other railroads. These included the Frisco and the Houston and Texas Central later to become part of the Southern Pacific Railroad. Located one block east of downtown Denison off U.S. Business 69, the depot is opposite the highway overpass from the former location of the M-K-T Denison Carshops. The Katy Depot and a small part of the once huge Ray Yards are all that remain of a major point on the Katy System. The former site of the original Denison Union Depot is not far away, it was used till the opening of the Katy Depot around 1914. Every famous Katy passenger trains used the depot, boarding passengers for travel from Dension to the many destinations throughout the Katy System. Although all passenger service ended on the Katy in the mid 1960s the depot remained the general offices for the railroad till the merger with the Union Pacific Railroad.

After visiting the museum, check out the many interesting sites nearby including the ex Perrin Air Force Base Museum and President Dwight D. Eisehower Bithplace. The historic Travelers Hotel, Katy Antique Station along with many unique antique, art and crafts stores and galleries are a short stroll down historic Main Street and downtown Dension. Also check out the Texas Lakes Trail website for more local adventures.