In this 1912 photograph, workers are seen laying railroad track through what is now the city of Maricopa. The town’s first station opened on Independence Day in 1887, marking the launch of service on the Maricopa and Phoenix Railroad. A station map from 1915 depicts the tracks and original structures.

That original two-story depot (above), with its deep eaves and brick chimneys, was replaced in the 1930s. The structure was later relocated to Scottsdale’s McCormick-Stillman Railroad Park in 2003, the same year Maricopa incorporated as a city.

Today, the Maricopa station consists of a double-wide modular building (above) with a waiting area and restrooms at 44605 W. Mercado Street. In 1996, passenger service to Phoenix Union Station was discontinued because of deteriorating track conditions along the Southern Pacific line west of Maricopa. With no funding available for repairs, Amtrak rerouted the Sunset Limited/Texas Eagle to Southern Pacific’s main line through Maricopa, leaving the city 25 miles south of the state capital as the nearest stop as it remains today.