Southern Pacific Depot of Hondo

The line through Hondo began as the Buffalo Bayou, Brazos and Colorado, chartered on February 11, 1850, the first railroad to operate in Texas, and was renamed the Galveston, Harrisburg and San Antonio in 1870. By 1874 it was using the nickname Sunset Route, which the Southern Pacific later adopted for its whole line from New Orleans to Los Angeles. Leased to the Texas and New Orleans in 1927, it was merged into that company in 1934.

What the plaque says

Southern Pacific Depot of Hondo The first rail line reached this area in 1881 and town lots were sold that year for Hondo City. The line was built by the Galveston, Harrisburg and San Antonio Railway. It connected with the Southern Pacific System building east from California. The railroad was vital to the early growth of Hondo, but rail traffic began to decline in the 1940s. The last passenger train, pulled by engine No. 6, left the Hondo Station on June 8, 1958. The Southern Pacific Depot was moved to the present location in 1970 from the original site, seventeen blocks east. 1980

Where it stands

Worth the stop nearby

• Landmark Inn State Historic Site — 17 mi
  A store and stage stop at the Medina River ford in Henri Castro's Alsatian town, with a mill race under the ground and rooms you can still rent for the night.

More markers nearby

• Hondo — 0.7 mi
• Medina County — 1.2 mi
• Vandenburg — 5.2 mi
• New Fountain United Methodist Church — 6.4 mi