Historical Marker
H&TC and I&GN Depots
Austin, Travis County · Texas
Erected 2010
The Houston and Texas Central began as the Galveston and Red River Railway, chartered in 1848. Paul Bremond and Thomas William House broke ground at Houston on January 1, 1853, and the line took its new name in 1856. It reached Millican in 1861 and, after the war, Corsicana, Dallas and Denison, where in 1873 it met the Katy to make the first all-rail route from Texas to St. Louis. Its Austin branch grew from the Washington County Railroad bought in 1867. Charles Morgan bought the H&TC in 1877, and Southern Pacific took control in 1883.
What the plaque says
H&TC and I&GN Depots On December 25, 1871, the first train into Austin rolled over Waller Creek, bringing with it hope, prosperity and progress. The Houston and Texas Central (H&TC) Railroad made Austin its westernmost terminus in the state and the most prominent trading hub in Central Texas. The railroad brought growth and success to the city and a depot of a first class nature was needed. After thirty years of public debate, legal maneuvers and economic constraints, the depot was finally completed in 1902 at the northeast corner of Third Street and Congress Avenue. The depot was designed with stained glass windows, a wrought iron staircase and an ornate fireplace. Beginning in 1904, the H&TC began sharing the depot with the Missouri-Kansas-Texas (M-K-T), better known as "The Katy," which ran service until 1964. The depot was demolished in 1965. In 1876, the International and Great Northern (I&GN) opened the second rail line to Austin, becoming the city's major rail line for many years. Citizens again suggested a depot be built which mirrored the stature Austin now held within the state. In 1888, I&GN hired Gustav Wilke, who built the state capitol, to build the new depot at the southwest corner of Third and Congress. It included granite trimmings, red oak, and a slate roof. I&GN and its successor, the Missouri Pacific, ran trains out of the depot until 1949, when a new depot was built on Lamar Boulevard. The I&GN depot was demolished in 1955. These depots represented the influential and important position Austin held as the state capital. They also helped bring commerce, transportation, and sophistication to the burgeoning city and highlighted Austin's promise as passengers stepped off the trains. (2010)
Where it stands
30.26528, -97.74420 · Directions
Worth the stop nearby
- Texas State Capitol — 0.7 miAustin's fourth statehouse, a Renaissance Revival capitol of 1888 that stands 311 feet to its Goddess of Liberty and was restored after the 1983 fire.
- French Legation State Historic Site — 0.7 miA raised pine house built in 1840 and 1841 for France's envoy to the Republic of Texas, who left Austin in a rage over a neighbor's pigs before it was finished.
- Bullock Texas State History Museum — 1.1 miThe state's history museum at the head of Congress Avenue, built around the hull of La Salle's ship La Belle, raised from Matagorda Bay with 1.8 million artifacts.
- Texas State Cemetery — 1.1 miA hill east of the Capitol that began with one general's grave in 1851 and now holds Stephen F. Austin, governors, Barbara Jordan and more than 2,000 Confederate veterans and widows.