Annual Pony Express Re-ride at Hollenberg Station, 2008

Pony ExpressPony Express

The Pony Express lasted 18 months, from April 1860 until October 1861.  The route was 1,800 miles long, from St. Joseph, Missouri, to Sacramento, California.  Two stations, Guittard and Marysville, were located in Marshall County.  To the west was Hollenberg Station, now a Kansas state historic site.

Pony Express Home Station No. 1, Marysville.

Now a museum and the oldest existing building in Marshall County, this stone barn was erected by Joseph Cottrell in 1859 and later used as a stable for the Pony Express.  It is the only original home station at its original site along the Pony Express route.  (A home station was one where riders as well as horses changed.)  Museum open April-October Mon.-Sat. 10-5, Sun. 12-4.  106 S. 8th Street, Marysville. 785-562-3825

 

 

Pony Express Statue and Mural , Marysville.

The statue, sculpted by Richard Berger in 1984, is the centerpiece of a downtown park at 7th Street between Broadway and Hwy 36. Interactive murals, installed in 2009, depict scenes from local history. One is a Pony Express rider, modeled by local Re-rider Dan Koch. When the viewer walks in front of the mural, the horse and rider appear to move.

 

 

 

Guittard Station Marker, north of Beattie.

In the 1850's and 1860's French emigrant Xavier Guittard   operated a Pony Express station, post office and stage station on a farm a short distance east of this marker.  Part of the original boards from the station were used in a barn that still stands.   The marker is on the east side of 21st Road between Frontier and Granite Roads, 3 miles north of Beattie, Northeast Quadrant.  The site of the station, located a short distance to the east, is private property.

 

Hollenberg Pony Express Station , 2 miles into Washington County.

The 1857 house at Hollenberg Station, a rare example of a station still standing unaltered in its original location, is surrounded by a 7-acre state park.  Open April 7 through August 29, 2010. Wed. - Sat. 9 a.m. - 5 p.m., Sun. 1 - 5 p.m. 785-337-2635.  4 mi. north of Hwy 36 on K-148 and 1/4 mile east on K-243 in Washington County.  Or, from the Marshall-Washington Co. line at Granite Road go 2 miles west on 23rd Road.  See Northwest Quadrant