Long before the Rock Island Railroad opened its new passenger depot in 1910 on land originally platted by William Sturdevant, this corner was an important commercial location. Edward Knott and his sons John and Alfred operated a horse importing and livery business at this intersection. Edward imported horses from England and France for resale in the Dakotas and the eastern United States; his sons' livery operation stabled horses and rented carriages and buggies, and they also furnished careful drivers when desired. In 1888, the Des Moines State Register declared that Edward Knott and Co. ranked among the best stables in the state, and a local publication likewise called the company a leader in the Iowa horse industry known from the Atlantic to the mountains. The livery stable and barns were destroyed by a fire of mysterious origin discovered just after midnight on a Sunday morning in May 1904. Firemen were hampered by a lack of water pressure as the fire spread rapidly through the hay loft, and the blaze illuminated Bremer Avenue for blocks. Fourteen of the 17 horses in the barns were cremated, and many tons of hay and straw were destroyed, but John Knott quickly announced that the livery would reopen at another location with buggies and harness that had been rescued. The 1904 fire created the opportunity for the Rock Island Railroad to build a new passenger depot along Bremer Avenue. Edward Knott sold his corner lot to the railroad in November, but for nearly five years the new depot remained only a rumor in the newspapers. In July 1909, the railroad announced plans for a red brick depot on its Short Line route to Waverly Junction, six miles to the southwest, but as construction clearing began, a different plan emerged. The depot was instead built in Spanish Mission style using a patented process invented by George M. Graham, who oversaw the project. A framework of steel pipes filled with concrete was covered with heavy wire in a grid of 12-inch squares, then fastened with wire mesh and spread with concrete on both sides, leaving an air space in the middle of the walls. The building was said to weigh one-third as much as a similar brick structure, and because only the window frames and doors used wood, it was considered fireproof. The Waverly depot was only the second building ever constructed with this process. By early 1910, a brick platform surrounded the building, steam heat and electric lights had been installed, and interior plaster and dark oak woodwork had been added. Its furniture was described as heavy carved weathered oak mounted on stands ornamented with oxidized metal. The depot officially opened on July 3, 1910, and the old wooden depot near 2nd Avenue became the freight depot. M.G. Mitchell, a longtime conductor on the shuttle connecting Waverly to the Rock Island main line at Waverly Junction, developed a park between the depot and Bremer Avenue with a lawn, fence, the railroad emblem in white stones, and later a flagpole and flag. Mitchell retired in 1919 after a 48-year railroad career. Passenger and freight traffic declined in the 1920s as highways improved and automobiles and trucks became more popular. By 1933, the Rock Island Short Line to Waverly Junction was no longer profitable, passenger service was reduced, half the building was rented for storage, and service eventually fell to three freight trains per week. The depot closed in 1959.