The Cincinnati Southern Railroad built the Erlanger depot, which opened in 1877, and it is the last wooden depot between Cincinnati and Chattanooga. Passenger service between those two cities began in 1880. After the depot had served for over 100 years, Norfolk Southern decided to close and destroy it, but the Erlanger Historical Society saved it and it became a museum in 1990. The Erlanger Land Syndicate filed the plan for the Erlanger Proper Subdivision with the Kenton County Clerk of Courts in 1887. The original plat contained 220 building lots. It was an early planned community whose backers marketed the subdivision aggressively, beginning as a railroad community and maturing as a suburb along a major highway. The Historic District was listed on the National Register in 2002.