Robert R. Young

Young's railroad fight began well before the New York Central. With Allan P. Kirby he took control of the Alleghany Corporation, a railroad holding company, by 1941, and as chairman of the Chesapeake and Ohio he campaigned to modernize passenger service and brought in lightweight diesel trains. His best-known advertisement said a hog could cross the country without changing trains, but you could not. His hopes for a true transcontinental line foundered, but the Pennsylvania and New York Central merger he had sought came in 1968 as Penn Central.

What the plaque says

(February 14, 1897 - January 25, 1958) A leader in America's finance and transportation. Born here, in house built by lawyer Temple Houston, son of Republic of Texas President Sam Houston. His grandfather was traildriver, pioneer rancher; his father, president of the first bank in Canadian. Educated at Old Canadian Academy, Culver Military Academy (where he won highest honors), University of Virginia. Married, 1916, Anita O'Keeffe, sister of the famous painter Georgia O'Keeffe. Had a daughter. One of close friends was King Edward VIII of England. Assistant to treasurer of General Motors, 1920s. Made fortune in stock market in 1929. After years on Wall Street, won acclaim of financial world in a proxy battle to gain control of and modernize New York Central Railroad. In this fight, enlisted aid of Texas friends Clint Murchison and Sid Richardson. Until 1939, retained banking interests in Canadian. Was a lifelong member of Presbyterian church here. Remembered native state with gifts of rare papers to University of Texas. Restored an historic local burial ground, naming it "Edith Ford Cemetery," to honor an aunt who reared him after early death of his mother. Maintained close ties (in visits, hunting trips, correspondence) with people known in boyhood. (1967)

Where it stands

Worth the stop nearby

• Canadian River Wagon Bridge — 0.4 mi
  The longest pin-connected bridge in Texas, 3,255 feet of Parker trusses across the Canadian River at Canadian, built for wagons in 1916 and reopened as a footpath in 2000.
• River Valley Pioneer Museum — 0.7 mi
  The Hemphill County museum in Canadian, a Santa Fe division town of 1887 on the river breaks that held one of the first commercial rodeos in Texas and voted itself dry in 1903.
• The Citadelle Art Museum — 0.9 mi
  A 1910 Baptist church saved from demolition in 1977, made into a family home filled with art, and given to Canadian in 2009 as one of the Panhandle's few art museums.
• Gene Howe Wildlife Management Area — 4.9 mi
  Five thousand acres of sand sage and cottonwood bottomland along the Canadian River east of Canadian, bought by the state in 1950 for wildlife research and open to walkers with a permit.

More markers nearby

• Hemphill County — steps away
• Canadian River Trails — steps away
• Moody Hotel — 0.7 mi
• R. Dick Bussell — 0.8 mi