America's Second Transcontinental Railroad

The meeting of the rails gave Sierra Blanca its reason to exist. The town became the area's main commercial center, with stockyards and a railhead for ranchers and a shipping point for salt and other minerals. A post office opened in 1882 under James McFee, closed that same year and reopened in 1885. Sierra Blanca had 126 people in 1884, 200 and two hotels by 1892, and about 600 by the mid-1920s. Since 1921 part of the town has kept Central Time while the rest of the county runs on Mountain Time.

What the plaque says

America's Second Transcontinental Railroad (Joined Here in 1881) Great achievement in American history. Victory for statesmen, including Henry Clay and John C. Calhoun, who early as 1845 had supported in the United States Congress the idea of a transcontinental railroad. This was effected in 1869, but a need remained-- as advocated in the Congress-- for a southern route. In 1869 the Southern Pacific began constructing such a line eastward from the west coast. In 1871 the Texas & Pacific began building a line, under a special Act of Congress, from east Texas to southern California. They ran a dramatic race which reached its climax as construction crews for the roads neared this site. Southern Pacific reached Sierra Blanca on Nov. 25, 1881-- while crews of the T. & P. were 10 miles to the east of here. On Nov. 26, 1881, an agreement was reached by Jay Gould, for the Texas & Pacific, and Collis P. Huntington, for the Southern Pacific, whereby in Sierra Blanca the roads would "approach, meet, and form one continuous line to the Pacific Ocean." The lines were joined here on Dec. 15,1881, and on Dec. 16 transcontinental service was inaugurated. (1968)

Where it stands

Worth the stop nearby

• Hudspeth County Courthouse — 0.4 mi
  The only courthouse in Texas built entirely of adobe, in the Sierra Blanca railroad town where Southern Pacific and Texas and Pacific crews met in 1881.

More markers nearby

• Hudspeth County — steps away
• The Killing of General J. J. Byrne — steps away
• Fort Quitman, C.S.A. — 0.4 mi
• August Fransal — 0.6 mi