Last updated: August 21, 2026
Place
Lancaster Station
NPS Photo
Quick Facts
Location:
Marker is at the northeast corner of 286th Rd and High St, Lancaster, KS. GPS 39.5657833333, -95.3028138889
Significance:
Lancaster Station served as a relay station for stagecoaches that carried Pony Express “light” mail from Atchison, Kansas, to Ft. Kearny, Nebraska, from September 14 through November 20, 1861. The station was located on an alternative route established when the eastern headquarters of the Pony Express shifted from St. Joseph to Atchison.
Designation:
Historic site on the Pony Express National Historic Trail.
Amenities
1 listed
Historical/Interpretive Information/Exhibits
A rectangular granite monument at the northeast corner of 286 Rd and High St at Lancaster, Kansas, commemorates Lancaster Station, a relay station for stagecoaches carrying express mail during the final 6 weeks of Pony Express operations.
By early September 1861, Civil War-related violence had left much of the city of St. Joseph, Missouri—the eastern terminus of the Pony Express—in ruins. In response, the Central Overland California & Pikes Peak Express (COC&PPE) moved its Pony Express offices from St. Joseph to Atchison, Kansas, in mid-September.
Westbound express mail was still collected and postmarked in St. Joseph, then placed on a train bound for Atchison. There, COC&PPE employees transferred the mail to a company-operated stagecoach for transport to Fort Kearny, Nebraska. Lancaster Station, at the tiny town of Lancaster, was the first stagecoach stop/relay station west of Atchison. From the fort, the express mail continued westward by the familiar horse and rider relay. Eastbound Pony mail from California followed the reverse route, carried by Pony Express riders to Fort Kearny, then by stagecoach to Atchison. This system remained in place for the final 6 week of the Pony Express, until completion of the transcontinental telegraph rendered the service obsolete.
Lancaster Station served the Pony Express from mid-September until November 20, 1861, when the operation shut down and the last mail mochila reached its destination. Nothing remains of the historic station.
Site Information
Location (Marker is at the northeast corner of 286th Rd and High St, Lancaster, KS. GPS 39.5657833333, -95.3028138889)