Texas & Pacific Railway Depot
Baird, Callahan County, Texas
Marker Inscription
The Texas & Pacific Railway arrived here in 1880, platting a town near the work camp of Matthew Baird, surveyor and engineer. In 1881, the T&P built a roundhouse and immigrant house, and moved a depot building to this new railroad division point. The town of Baird prospered and became county seat in 1883. A frame depot built in 1905 converted to storage when replaced by this two-story brick depot in 1911. The Prairie style building features a decorative belt course, overhanging eaves, low-pitched roof and unusual Flemish style parapet. In 1977, the railroad discontinued use of the building, which still recalls the town's importance as a shipping point. Recorded Texas Historic Landmark - 1985
Erected by Texas Historical Commission
The Story
The Texas & Pacific Railway reached this spot in 1880, platting a town by the camp of surveyor Matthew Baird and soon building a roundhouse and division-point depot. Baird prospered, becoming county seat in 1883. The present two-story brick depot, raised in 1911 in a Prairie style with a distinctive Flemish parapet, replaced an earlier frame building and stood as the town's landmark until the railroad left it in 1977.
Why it matters
As a railroad division point, Baird owed its very existence to the T&P, and its handsome depot embodies the era when the railroad, not the river or road, decided a town's fate.
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Related people
- · Matthew Baird
Themes & tags
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