. City of Houston . eproductions of the central part of theState, which could easily be gatheredthere. Allen foresaw that at this point thefuture railroad system of the State wouldcenter. It is said that he pointed to onestreet to which he had given the name of But in a few years the new City ofAustin was made the capital of theRepublic, and Houston was thus deprivedof some of its importance. Upon theannexation of Texas to the United States,however, its growth was measurablyaccelerated. Capital was attracted to itand immigrants came in considerablenumbers. In 1849 or 1850, the design of a rail
. City of Houston . eproductions of the central part of theState, which could easily be gatheredthere. Allen foresaw that at this point thefuture railroad system of the State wouldcenter. It is said that he pointed to onestreet to which he had given the name of But in a few years the new City ofAustin was made the capital of theRepublic, and Houston was thus deprivedof some of its importance. Upon theannexation of Texas to the United States,however, its growth was measurablyaccelerated. Capital was attracted to itand immigrants came in considerablenumbers. In 1849 or 1850, the design of a railroadfrom Harrisburg, a settlement near by, toAustin was conceived, and the projectorof this enterprise, Gen. Sidney Sherman,the hero of San Jacinto, took active 12 THE CITY OF HOUSTON. measures to make his plan a success. International & Great Northern, and theNew England capitalists were induced to Texas & New Orleans, now a part of embark the scheme, a charter was • the Southern Pacific or Sunset CATHOLIC CHURCH, HOUSTON. obtained from the Legislature containinga proviso empowering the City of Hous-ton to tap the road at some conven-ient point, and the enterprise was pushedwith energy. Thenceforth the citizensof Houston interested themselves in rail-road construction, and obtained chartersfor three roads to enter the city, the Gal-veston, Houston & Red River, now theHouston & Texas Central, the HoustonTap & Brazoria, now a branch of the The State Legislature made liberal grantsto these lines and by 1861 there were 357miles of railway centering <at Houston. But the march of improvement in thisdirection was stayed by the outbreak ofcivil war; and Houston, just enteringupon a period of great prosperity andrapid advance, was suddenly checked inits forward career. Trade was superficially brisk at Hous-ton during the four years of conflict; it THE CITY OF HOUSTON. 13 was conducted upon too precarious a ten-ure to be of permanent advantage to thecity. The residents of
Size: 1423px × 1755px
Photo credit: © Reading Room 2020 / Alamy / Afripics
License: Licensed
Model Released: No
Keywords: ., bookcentury1800, bookdecade1890, bookidcityofhousto, bookyear1890
