Junction of the Texas & Pacific and Houston & Texas Central Railroads
Dallas, Dallas County, Texas
Marker Inscription
The city of Dallas secured its role as the economic, communication and transportation center of North Texas with the completion of the junction of the Texas & Pacific and Houston & Texas Central Railroads in 1873. In 1871, as railroads began to approach Dallas, county and city leaders paid the Houston & Texas Central $5,000 to shift the proposed route seven miles to the west, so that it north-south tracks would run approximately one mile from the court house. One year later, when leaders could not convince the Texas & Pacific to shift their proposed route by payment, they devised a way to force the shift. State Representative John V. Lane secured a rider amendment stating that the proposed east to west railroad extension cross the Houston and Texas Central line within one half mile of Browder’s Springs, which was the town’s public water supply. The legislators did not know that the springs were also located one mile from the Dallas County Courthouse. Angered by the amendment’s passage, the Texas & Pacific Railroad still planned to build the tracks one mile south of Browder’s Springs. However, the gift of right-of-way for the line along Burleson Avenue (which was changed to “Pacific Avenue” in honor of the rail company), $100,000 in bonds, and additional right-of-way at the intersection with the Houston & Central rail line for a depot finally convinced the Texas and Pacific to move the tracks to follow Pacific Avenue, downtown. The resulting intersection became one of the first rail crossroads in Texas. (2008)
Erected by Texas Historical Commission
The Story
Dallas cemented its place as North Texas's commercial hub when the Texas & Pacific and Houston & Texas Central lines crossed here in 1873. City and county leaders had paid the H&TC $5,000 to bend its route toward town, then engineered a legislative rider forcing the T&P to cross near Browder's Springs — conveniently close to the courthouse — before sweetening the deal with bonds and right-of-way along what became Pacific Avenue. The result was one of Texas's first rail crossroads.
Why it matters
This intersection made Dallas a railroad city, a vivid case of how frontier towns schemed and bargained to win the tracks that decided their futures.
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Related people
- · John V. Lane
Themes & tags
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