DUANE
Duane's take
Here's how the official marker tells it, and I'm gonna do my best to honor every word. Now, if you wanted to build a railroad the hard way, the state of Texas had a method. You start with a prison.
You add iron ore furnaces. You need charcoal to fire those furnaces, and for charcoal you need hardwood timber, and for timber you need a way to haul it — and just like that, the Texas Prison System found itself in the railroad business. It started as a short rail line, running from the Rusk State Penitentiary out to the hardwood timber stands where that charcoal was being made.
Modest enough in its ambitions. But in 1896, something more formal took shape: the Texas State Railway, organized with two goals riding side by side — make the prison self-supporting, and develop the economy of the whole region. Two birds, one iron rail.
And who built it? Prisoners. Supervised by the State Penitentiary System, they laid every mile of it.
By 1909, the line was completed, running thirty miles west all the way to Palestine, where it linked up with existing routes and suddenly became part of something bigger. But railroads, like furnaces, can go cold. Financial troubles crept in, and when the furnaces closed, the line lost its original reason for being.
It got leased — first to the Texas and New Orleans Railroad, then to the Texas and Southeastern Railroad, which ran trains on it until 1969. That's a long life for a line born out of necessity. Then, in 1972, control transferred to the Texas Parks and Wildlife Department, and here's where the story doubles back on itself in a way that's almost poetic.
The tracks between Rusk and Palestine needed restoration — and it was Texas Department of Corrections inmates who did that work. The same system that built the railroad sent men to bring it back. New depots went up.
Parks were built at each end of the line. Vintage steam locomotives and rail cars were purchased, and passenger service began rolling between Palestine and Rusk — tourists now riding the miles that prisoners once laid. The park became one of the most popular tourist attractions in the state of Texas.
A prison railroad, born to haul charcoal and feed iron furnaces, wound up carrying families and sightseers through the East Texas pines. Some things outlast every purpose they were ever built for. This one just needed a little help getting there.
What the marker says
The Texas Prison System built a short rail line from the Rusk State Penitentiary to hardwood timber stands where charcoal was made for firing the prison's iron ore furnaces. The rail line became the foundation of the Texas State Railway, organized in 1896 to make the prison self-supporting and to develop the region's economy. Built by prisoners and supervised by the State Penitentiary System, the line was completed in 1909 to Palestine (30 mi.W) where it connected with existing routes. Financial woes and the closing of the furnaces led to the line being leased to the Texas & New Orleans Railroad, and later the Texas & Southeastern Railroad, which operated the line until 1969. Control of the line was transferred to the Texas Parks & Wildlife Department in 1972 for development as a state park. Restoration of the tracks between Rusk and Palestine was accomplished by Texas Department of Corrections inmates. New depots and parks were built at each terminus. Vintage steam locomotives and rail cars were purchased to provide tourist passenger service from Palestine to rusk. The park has become one of the most popular tourist attractions in the state. (1997) Incise on back: Marker donated by Correctional Employees Council, AFSCME/AFL-CIO, Local 3806