Morgan Jones

Duane's take

Here's my telling of what the official marker says about Morgan Jones, a man who left his mark on Texas one rail at a time. Now, some folks come to Texas looking for a fresh start. Morgan Jones came from Wales, arrived in the United States in 1866, and apparently decided the whole place needed connecting.

So he got to work. As a contractor for numerous railroad lines, Jones laid tracks spanning more than a thousand miles across Texas and the West. More than a thousand miles.

You let that number sit with you for a moment. That is not a man who did things halfway. By 1884, he was president of the Fort Worth and Denver City Railway Company.

President. Of a railroad. The Welsh-born contractor had become, by any fair measure, a railroad legend.

And he was not finished. In 1906, Jones began constructing the Abilene and Northern Railway. Then in 1908, he moved to Abilene himself, as if to say, I will not just build toward this place, I will live in it.

And he kept right on building, completing the Abilene and Southern Railway and making extensive investments throughout Texas, contributing to Abilene's growth until the very end of his life. More than a thousand miles of track. Two railways bearing the Abilene name.

One man, born in Wales, who looked at the wide open Texas landscape and saw not emptiness, but connection. That is the story the marker tells, and it is enough of a story for anybody.

What the marker says

Welsh-born Morgan Jones arrived in the U.S. in 1866. As a contractor for numerous railroad lines, he became a railroad legend by laying tracks spanning more than 1,000 miles across Texas and the West. He was president of the Fort Worth and Denver City Railway Company by 1884, and in 1906 began to construct the Abilene and Northern Railway. In 1908 Jones moved to Abilene, continuing railroad expansion by completing the Abilene and Southern Railway. He made extensive investments throughout Texas and contributed to Abilene's growth until his death. (1998)