Southern Pacific Depot of Hondo
Hondo, Medina County, Texas
Marker Inscription
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
Erected by Texas Historical Commission
The Story
The railroad made Hondo: in 1881 the Galveston, Harrisburg and San Antonio Railway pushed through this Medina County land, town lots went on sale, and "Hondo City" was born as a link in the Southern Pacific route reaching east from California. For decades the depot was the town's lifeline, until passenger service faded in the mid-twentieth century — the last train pulled out in 1958. The surviving Southern Pacific depot, moved here in 1970, is a relic of that railroad age.
Why it matters
The depot preserves the memory of the transcontinental rail network that created and sustained countless small Western towns before the automobile age ended their rail dependence.
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Themes & tags
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