Near Site, Southern Pacific Ceremony of Silver Spike

The Texas half of the joining began as the Buffalo Bayou, Brazos and Colorado, chartered on February 11, 1850, the first railroad to operate in Texas. It laid eighty miles of track by 1860 and was sold by the Harris County sheriff in 1868. Thomas W. Peirce and his associates reorganized it, and on July 27, 1870, it became the Galveston, Harrisburg and San Antonio. Under Maj. James Converse it built west from Columbus beginning in 1873 and reached San Antonio on February 5, 1877. It called itself the Sunset Route.

What the plaque says

Near Site, Southern Pacific Ceremony of Silver Spike Marked completion of Southern Pacific Railway. Eastern part originated in Texas in 1850s; then was rechartered 1870 by Texas Legislature as Galveston, Harrisburg & San Antonio Hwy., designed to join Houston and San Antonio to the Rio Grande. T. W. Pierce of Boston gained control in 1874. Meantime, C. P. Huntington of California was building the Southern Pacific eastward; he wanted a Texas line to join his tracks, and reached agreement with Pierce. On Jan. 12, 1883, the two railroads met near the Pecos High Bridge, and were joined by a Silver Spike. (1967)

Where it stands

Worth the stop nearby

• Pecos River Overlook — 4.6 mi
  A roadside pullout at the east end of the US-90 bridge, looking down into the gorge that made the Pecos a barrier for travelers and a byword for the edge of the law.
• Seminole Canyon State Park and Historic Site — 6.3 mi
  The state park west of Comstock where rangers lead visitors down to Fate Bell Shelter and its Pecos River-style paintings, some three to four thousand years old.
• Judge Roy Bean Visitor Center — 11 mi
  The state travel center at Langtry, built around the saloon where Roy Bean held court as justice of the peace for twenty years, in a town named for a railroad foreman.
• Shumla Archaeological Research and Education Center — 14 mi
  The Comstock research center that documents the Lower Pecos murals, which it calls the oldest books in North America, and opens its headquarters to visitors four days a week.

More markers nearby

• Site of Vinegarroon — steps away
• Railroad Bridges Over the Pecos — 4.6 mi
• Medal of Honor Fight, 1875 — 4.6 mi
• The Pecos River in Literature and Folklore — 4.6 mi