DUANE
Duane's take
Here's how the official marker tells it, and I'm gonna give it to you straight with a little color on the side. This is the story of the first railroad in Texas — the Buffalo Bayou, Brazos and Colorado — and friend, it did not come easy. The dream started back in 1840.
The Republic of Texas — yes, the Republic, this was before statehood — had rich sugar and cotton crops sitting out on the plantations with no good way to move them. Somebody looked at that problem and said: we need a railroad. So the plan was hatched in 1840, and in 1841 the 5th Congress of the Republic chartered the thing under the name of the Harrisburg Railroad and Trading Company.
Now here's where the story gets interesting, because that company — the Harrisburg Railroad and Trading Company — did not succeed in building a railroad. Not one inch of track. Their holdings just sat there until 1847, when everything was transferred over to General Sidney Sherman.
And if that name rings a bell, it should — Sherman was a hero of the Battle of San Jacinto. He came in backed by eastern capital and a roster of leading Texans that reads like a who's-who of the era: W. J.
Hutchins, General Hugh McLeod, William Marsh Rice — who you may know as the benefactor of Rice University — B. A. Shepherd, James H.
Stevens, and John Grant Tod, a former Texas naval officer. That is some serious weight behind a railroad. They got to work.
B. F. Terry — a man the marker tells us was destined to lead Terry's Texas Rangers in the Civil War — and a fellow named W.
J. Kyle graded the roadbed. And in 1852, the first locomotive arrived.
They named her the General Sherman. Of course they did. Now August of 1853 is when things got real.
The tracks had pushed out twenty miles, running from Harrisburg all the way to Stafford's Point — an early Texas center of trade and social life, as the marker puts it. And on September the first, with what the marker simply calls fanfare — and I imagine there was plenty of it — a special train brought a load of honored guests out to join the planters at Stafford's Point for a barbecue-jubilee. A barbecue.
A jubilee. Combined. Only in Texas.
Regular schedules started up soon after, and Stafford's Point held down the end of the line for two full years, doing a brisk business the whole time. But the Buffalo Bayou, Brazos and Colorado wasn't done growing. By 1860, the railroad had pushed all the way to Alleyton — eighty miles from Harrisburg.
Eighty miles of iron rail stretching across Texas soil, starting from a plan that almost went nowhere, rescued by a San Jacinto hero, built by men who'd go on to make their own marks on history. The first railroad in Texas. It got there eventually.
What the marker says
Planned 1840 to benefit the Republic of Texas by moving rich sugar and cotton crops from plantation areas. Chartered 1841 by 5th Congress of the Republic, in name of Harrisburg Railroad & Trading Company. H. R. & T. C. did not succeed in building a railroad. Its holdings were transferred in 1847 to Gen. Sidney Sherman, a hero of the Battle of San Jacinto, who was backed by eastern capital and leading texans -- W. J. Hutchins, gen. Hugh McLeod, Wm. Marsh Rice (benefactor of Rice University), B. A. Shepherd, James H. Stevens, and John Grant Tod (a former Texas naval officer). B. F. Terry (destined to lead Terry's Texas Rangers in the Civil War) and W. J. Kyle graded the roadbed. The first locomotive, "General Sherman," arrived 1852. In August 1853 the tracks extended 20 miles from Harrisburg to Stafford's Point, early Texas center of trade and social life. On Sept. 1, with fanfare, a special train brought a load of honored guests to join planters here for a barbecue-jubilee. Regular schedules were soon in operation. Stafford's Point, end of the line for two years, did much business. Buffalo Bayou, Brazos & Colorado in 1860 reached Alleyton -- a distance of 80 miles from Harrisburg. Incise in base: Early Travel, Transportation and Communication Series erected by the Moody Foundation.