This abandoned railway was first conceived when the Saint Louis, Fort Scott, Wichita and Western Railroad was chartered to connect Wichita with Fort Scott in 1880. By 1883, the entire line between Fort Scott and Wichita had been completed, and was under the ownership of the Saint Louis, Fort Scott and Wichita Railroad, a subsidiary of Missouri Pacific.
The far eastern portion of the line in Fort Scott was originally built by the Fort Scott, Humboldt and Western Railroad in the 1870s.
Parts of the line are still in service, but a majority of the line has been abandoned within the last 20 years.