The Railroad in Rusk County

Duane's take

Here's how the official marker tells it, and I'll give it to you straight with a little color on the side. Rusk County and the railroad, now there's a story about waiting. Somebody had plans drawn up as early as 1852, rail line laid out on paper, ambitions running high.

But those tracks never touched the ground. Not then. The Civil War came and went, and it wasn't until after all that smoke cleared that anybody actually drove a spike into Rusk County soil.

That's a long time to sit with a plan. The International and Great Northern Line finally came through in the 1870s, and when it did, a town fourteen miles to the northwest called Overton stepped right up and became the center of Rusk County railroading. The Henderson-Overton Branch Railroad was completed in 1877, connecting the dots a little tighter across the county.

Now by the early 1900s, several small lines were being started up, optimistic little operations, each one figuring they'd found their niche. But the county is a demanding partner. By the end of the 1920s, every last one of those small lines had been abandoned.

Gone. Passenger service declined throughout Texas after World War II, which was a pattern repeated county by county across the state, not just here. But here's the thing about Rusk County and the railroad.

The freight kept moving. Rail freight continues to be an important business there, long after the passenger cars stopped running and the small lines faded back into the brush. That 1852 plan took a while to matter, but matter it did.

What the marker says

Although plans for a rail line were made as early as 1852, railroad tracks were not laid in this area until after the end of the Civil War. Overton (14 mi. NW) became the center of Rusk County Railroading after the international & Great Northern Line came through in the 1870s. The Henderson-Overton Branch Railroad was completed in 1877. Several small lines were begun in the county during the early 1900s but were abandoned by the end of the 1920s. Passenger Service declined through-out Texas after World War II, but rail freight continues to be an important business in Rusk County. Texas Sesquicentennial 1836-1986