Rochelle Depot
Rochelle, McCulloch County, Texas
Marker Inscription
J.F. Crew of Ohio purchased land here in 1902 and later moved to McCulloch County and founded the settlement of Rochelle. When the Fort Worth and Rio Grande Railroad built a line from Brownwood to Brady in 1902-03, he was successful in having it routed through Rochelle. Later part of the Santa Fe system, the railroad played an important role in the area's early growth and agricultural development. The town's first depot burned and was replaced about 1912 by this frame structure. In 1956 it was moved to this site for use as a community center. (1982)
Erected by Texas Historical Commission
The Story
Ohio-born J.F. Crew founded Rochelle and, when the Fort Worth and Rio Grande Railroad built its Brownwood-to-Brady line in 1902-03, secured its routing through his town. After the first depot burned, this frame structure replaced it around 1912 and was moved in 1956 to serve as a community center.
Why it matters
The depot marks how a single railroad line could summon a town into being and shape the agricultural fortunes of the surrounding country.
Own a business near here? Add it to the map.
Related people
- · J.F. Crew
Themes & tags
Nearby & related markers
Rochelle Cemetery
Rochelle vicinity, TX
Cattleman E.E. Willoughby settled near Rochelle in 1883 and, over the following years, donated land for the community's school, church, and — beginning with the 1896 burial plot around his infant son's grave — the Rochelle Cemetery. As the town migrated to follow the Fort Worth & Rio Grande Railroad, the cemetery endured and grew, now holding nearly 500 graves.
Union Passenger Depot
Brady, TX
When the Fort Worth and Rio Grande Railway reached Brady in 1903, and the Gulf, Colorado & Santa Fe followed eight years later, the town needed a depot that could serve both lines. This 1911 station did the job, later handling freight as well as passengers after 1946. Its corbeled brickwork, segmented arches, red tile roof, and observation-bay parapet mark it as a proud piece of early-20th-century railroad architecture.
Western Trail
Brady vicinity, TX
Through this gap in the Brady Mountains ran the Western Trail—also called the Dodge City or Fort Griffin Trail—the last of the great Texas cattle routes after farmers fenced off the eastern trails. From about 1876 to 1886 enormous herds moved north along it, more than 200,000 head in 1881 alone. Starting near Brownsville, the trail wound through San Antonio and the Hill Country, forded the San Saba and Colorado rivers, and pushed on through Doan's Crossing to Dodge City, Kansas, and eventually Wyoming and Montana.
Regency Suspension Bridge
Richland Springs, TX
After repeated floods destroyed earlier crossings of the Colorado River here, San Saba and Mills Counties joined forces to build this bridge, named for the Mills County town of Regency, with the Austin Bridge Company of Dallas finishing it in October 1939. Its road deck hangs from two steel cables more than three inches thick, each spun from 475 galvanized wire strands. Restored by the Texas Department of Transportation in 1999, it is one of the last suspension bridges in Texas still open to vehicle traffic.