History of the Katy Trail
Katy Locomotive
What was once an abandoned railroad line is now one of the most iconic destinations in Dallas: the Katy Trail. The Katy Trail has experienced a dramatic growth in usage in recent years and now receives four (4) million visits annually.
The Katy Trail, as most locals know it, began in 2000, but the history of the Katy Trail stretches back to the age of railroads.
The Union Pacific Railroad built the Missouri-Kansas-Texas (MKT) Railroad and established a network in 1865 known as the Southern Branch. The route was also commonly called the “K-T,” and eventually “the Katy.” It came to serve an extensive network that included Texas and Dallas, including a stop at Highland Park. Following the heyday of the railroad, in 1993 Union Pacific donated the railroad’s abandoned lines and land to the City of Dallas. The initial plan for the historic Katy rail line was to use it as part of the DART line; however, in the mid 1990s, a group of passionate neighbors and local businesses proposed that the line be converted into the beautiful urban trail you see today.
The 501(c)(3) nonprofit, Friends of the Katy Trail, was established in 1997 to construct and then to maintain the Katy Trail, in a private-public partnership with the City of Dallas. Since that time, with the generous support of individual and corporate donors, Friends of the Katy Trail keeps the Katy Trail clean, safe, and beautiful.