City of Giddings
Giddings, Lee County, Texas
Marker Inscription
County seat of Lee County. Named for Jabez D. Giddings (1814-78), of Washington County, one of four brothers from Pennsylvania who were Texas transportation pioneers and business leaders. The town was established as a shipping point when Houston & Texas Central Railroad (in which J. D. Giddings was a stockholder) reached here in 1871. A second and third railroad (San Antonio & Aransas Pass, 1889, and Hearne & Brazos Valley, 1913) increased city's prestige. Commission form government was adopted in 1913. A diversified economy developed.
Erected by Texas Historical Commission
The Story
Giddings grew up around the railroad: when the Houston & Texas Central line reached this spot in 1871, a shipping point took root and took the name of Jabez D. Giddings, a stockholder and one of four Pennsylvania-born brothers who were Texas transportation pioneers. Two more railroads followed by 1913, and the town became the seat of Lee County with a diversified economy. Its history is the classic story of a Central Texas town whose fortunes rode the rails.
Why it matters
Giddings shows how railroad expansion after the Civil War conjured new county-seat towns across Texas and set the pattern of settlement for a generation.
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Related people
- · Jabez D. Giddings
Themes & tags
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