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Lavaca Station (later known as Clark Station) was established as a stop on the San Antonio and Mexican Gulf Railroad (SA&MGRR), which received its charter on Sept. 5, 1850. It was the original terminus point from the Port of Lavaca, completed by late 1857. When the Indianola Railroad Company was chartered in 1858, the state required the Indianola line to connect to the Lavaca line at Lavaca Station, renamed to Lavaca Junction. The Indianola line was delayed, and materials remained in storage at the Indianola Wharf. The Lavaca line’s popularity made the area a target for Union forces during the Civil War, so the existing line and Indianola materials were destroyed by the Confederate forces. Within a few years, service was restored, but in 1870, the U.S. government foreclosed and sold the SA&MGRR at auction. Charles Morgan purchased the company and consolidated it with the Indianola line, completed in 1871.
After a devastating hurricane in 1875, Morgan restored the Indianola line but not the Lavaca. Lavaca traffic traveled over land to the station to catch the train. Five years later, Louis Foester and John and Thomas Clark purchased land in the area, and the site became known as Clark Station. In 1886 and 1887, Indianola suffered hurricane and fire damage, and the state allowed the Indianola line to be abandoned after June 1887 on the condition the Lavaca line was rebuilt. Foester donated land for a new easement and three acres for cattle shipping pens. Trains resumed in late 1887. By 1898, a sidetrack was built, allowing trains to pass through while others loaded. In the early 1900s, an Episcopal church was built on land donated by Charles Brett Jr., and a cotton gin and depot were built nearby. Rail decreased midcentury and the last shipment occurred in the late 1980s. For over 100 years, Clark Station served an important role in area transportation.
(2023)
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