DUANE
Duane's take
Here's how the official marker tells it, and I'll do my best to do it justice. Now, picture this: a man born in England — Fred Harvey, his name — comes to America and sets his sights on something the railroads of his day sorely lacked. In 1876, he begins operating dining rooms along the Santa Fe Railroad.
Not just any dining rooms, mind you. Elegance. That's the word the record uses, and I think they meant it.
Fast forward to 1900, and Somerville, Texas — divisional headquarters of the Santa Fe line — gets its very own Harvey House. And friend, this was not a modest little lunch counter. This place stretched two stories high, wrapped in a gallery, and ran two hundred and sixty feet long.
Two. Hundred. And.
Sixty. Feet. Under that roof you'd find a dining room, guest rooms, a library, and a reading room.
A library. On the railroad. Fred Harvey was not playing around.
The Harvey House served travelers and railroad workers alike, and it didn't matter if you'd just stepped off a dusty train car — inside those walls, the atmosphere was elegant. It became the social center of Somerville. The whole local economy felt the lift.
But here's where the story turns quiet. The Harvey House closed in 1940. Three years later, in 1943, it was dismantled.
That grand 260-foot testament to a better way to travel — gone. What remains today is the present depot, which is a part of that original building. A remnant.
A piece of something that once stretched longer than most people's imaginations. Fred Harvey, an Englishman who understood elegance, left his mark on a Texas railroad town — and just enough of it is still standing to remind you it was all real.
What the marker says
Fred Harvey, a native of England, began operation of his Santa Fe Railroad dining rooms in 1876. In 1900 a Harvey House opened in Somerville, divisional headquarters of the Santa Fe line. The 2-story, galleried structure was 260 ft. long and contained a dining room, guest rooms, library and reading room. The Harvey House served travelers and railroad workers in an atmosphere of elegance. It became the social center of the town and boosted the local economy. The Harvey House closed in 1940 and was dismantled in 1943. The present depot is a part of the original building. (1978)