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Harris County was 1861 center for 492 miles of state railroads, with Texas & New Orleans going from here to Orange; Houston & Texas Central to Millican; Houston Tap & Brazoria to Columbia; Buffalo Bayou, Brazos & Colorado to Alleyton; and Galveston, Houston & Henderson to Galveston.
At Hempstead on the H.&T.C., passengers took the Washington County R.R. to Brenham and from there went by stagecoach to Austin, the state capital.
Eastern Texas R.R. went from Beaumont to Sabine Pass; Memphis, El Paso & Phoenix ran 5 miles out of Jefferson; and a "Southern Pacific" went to the Louisiana line from Marshall. Making junction with the San Antonio & Mexican Gulf which ran from Port Lavaca to Victoria was the 15-mile Indianola R.R.
1,000 troops guarded and maintained the T.&N.O. Other troops destroyed 2 lines to prevent their use in possible invasions. War ruined 7 roads, because overtaxed industry could not replace worn tracks, parts or rolling stock. By 1865 only the H.&T.C. and the G.H.&H. still ran trains, and their tracks and rolling stock were much in need of replacement. The railroads had met the challenge as they have in every war. (1964) |
