A little over a quarter of a mile southwest stood a Pony Express station called Troy, named for its proximity to Troy, Kansas. Owned and operated by Henry Thompson, it had 16 rooms and a tavern. In Kansas, the Pony Express Company saved money by contracting with local owners to use their sites for stations. The Pony Express began on April 3, 1860, and ended on November 20, 1861. Troy was not an original station but an added station, first used on July 1, 1861. By August 28, 1861, Pony Express mail was carried by stagecoach from St. Joseph to Ft. Kearny rather than by Pony Express horse, and this route stopped being used on September 14, 1861, when the headquarters in St. Joseph moved to Atchison.