Texas Central Railroad
De Leon, Comanche County, Texas
Marker Inscription
Railroad construction in Texas, interrupted by the Civil War and by the national economic depression of the early 1870s, began a period of recovery in the late 1870s and early 1880s. Chartered on May 31, 1879, the Texas Central Railway was owned by the Houston & Texas Central Railway and was in competition with the Texas Pacific to build a line westward through North Central Texas. Extending from Ross Station near Waco in 1879, the Texas Central reached the Erath-Comanche County line in 1880. The Texas Central laid out the town of De Leon on April 10, 1881, and railroad official Robert M. Elgin conducted the sale of town lots from the back of a flatcar on July 7. Although the initial sale of lots was slow, the town soon developed and attracted new settlers from the Southeastern United States. Railroad offices, shops, and a roundhouse were built here, and De Leon became the area's primary shipping point for cotton and, later, peanuts and other products. Acquired by the Missouri-Kansas-Texas (Katy) Railroad in 1910, the line continued to operate until 1967, when local backers purchased part of the line and continued to provide shipping service to customers along "The Peanut Line" connecting Dublin, De Leon, and Gorman. (1994)
Erected by Texas Historical Commission
The Story
As railroad building revived after the Civil War and the 1870s depression, the Texas Central pushed westward through North Central Texas, reaching the Erath–Comanche county line in 1880. The line laid out the town of De Leon in 1881, where an official famously auctioned town lots from the back of a flatcar. With shops, offices, and a roundhouse, De Leon became the area's main shipping point for cotton and later peanuts, and the route survived into the era of "The Peanut Line."
Why it matters
The Texas Central shows how railroads literally created and provisioned the farm towns of North Central Texas, dictating where settlement and commerce would rise.
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Related people
- · Robert M. Elgin
Themes & tags
Nearby & related markers
Community of Comyn-Theney
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After settlers poured into this part of Comanche County around 1875, a rural community grew up around W. F. Matheney's trading post, whose shortened name—"Theney"—stuck to the town. The Texas Central Railroad arrived in 1881, a depot took the name of railroad official M. T. Comyn, and the settlement blossomed with stores, a gin, and lodge halls. A 1918 oil pipeline tank farm briefly conjured a tent city of hundreds before construction ended and residents drifted away.
Proctor
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