North Pleasanton
Pleasanton, Atascosa County, Texas
Marker Inscription
The Crystal City and Uvalde railroad was built in 1909 with bonus money and land donations. J.E. Franklin, chairman of the railroad, changed the name to San Antonio, Uvalde and Gulf (S.A.U. & G.), and extended the tracks toward Pleasanton. In 1912, a new town, North Pleasanton, was established at the division point by President M.E. Leming and other officials of the Nueces Valley Townsite Company to accommodate railroad employees. The division point, between San Antonio and Corpus Christi, made a suitable location for the general operating offices and machine shops, round house, etc. The two-story S.A.U. & G. Depot, designed by Henry Phelps, the architect who designed the Atascosa County Courthouse, was built in the Mission Revival Style. As the town began to grow, streets were surveyed and named, and a bridge was built over the Atascosa River to connect North Pleasanton to Pleasanton. Businesses opened along First Street, including the Gulf Coast Hotel, a post office, the First State Bank of North Pleasanton, multiple stores and other hotels. In 1914, an advertisement in the San Antonio Light newspaper named North Pleasanton as the fastest growing town in the south. In 1927, the Missouri Pacific Railroad purchased the S.A.U. & G. And the shops began closing down as the town struggled through the depression. In 1952, in an effort to improve the town, the citizens created the North Pleasanton Community Club. A new city hall, fire station, park and swimming pool were built. The residents of Pleasanton and North Pleasanton lived side by side for almost fifty years when the idea of consolidation resurfaced. Citizens voted unanimously to consolidate with Pleasanton on December 22, 1961.
Erected by Texas Historical Commission
The Story
When the Crystal City and Uvalde Railroad—renamed the San Antonio, Uvalde and Gulf—pushed toward Pleasanton, its officials laid out a brand-new town in 1912 at the line's division point to house railroad workers. North Pleasanton boomed with a Mission Revival depot, a bridge over the Atascosa River, hotels, a bank, and businesses along First Street, and by 1914 a newspaper touted it as the fastest-growing town in the South. But when Missouri Pacific bought the line in 1927 and closed the shops, the Depression-era town faded, finally voting to consolidate with Pleasanton in 1961.
Why it matters
North Pleasanton is a vivid example of the American railroad boomtown—conjured by a rail division point, then folded back into its neighbor once the shops closed.
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Related people
- · J.E. Franklin
- · M.E. Leming
- · Henry Phelps
Themes & tags
Nearby & related markers
San Antonio, Uvalde and Gulf Railroad
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Born in 1909 as the short-line Crystal City and Uvalde, this railroad grew as deep artesian wells turned the dry brush country into profitable irrigated farmland that needed a way to reach market. By 1912 it reached a new depot at North Pleasanton and, extended toward the coast, took the name San Antonio, Uvalde and Gulf—nicknamed 'The Sausage.' Later absorbed by Missouri Pacific and then Union Pacific, its tracks remain the last line between San Antonio and Corpus Christi.
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