This abandoned railway was originally built in 1867 by the Leavenworth, Lawrence and Fort Gibson Railroad as part of a rail route between Leavenworth and the Kansas state border to the south at Coffeyville. After a couple of bankruptcies and their consequent reorganizations, the line was finally purchased by the Santa Fe railroad in 1880, though it continued to operate the line under the name of Kansas City, Lawrence and Southern Railroad, and later under the Southern Kansas Railway umbrella along with other AT&SF properties. The AT&SF abandoned a portion of the line between Lawrence and Baldwin City, by then named the Lawrence District, in 1963.