Nostalgia & History > Freight Depot Friday at Galveston

The ampersand was a big player at the turn of the last century.  
I lament it's passing in current railroad naming.

Galveston Houston & Henderson was one of the first railroads in Texas, running in about 1850
from Houston to Galveston Island.  Galveston, being a port, was the largest city in Texas
when the line was built and Texas, being a large cotton producer, was a huge exporter to
places like Liverpool via the GH&H and Port of Galveston.  Long story short, the International &
Great Northern (later becoming MoPac) and Missouri Kansas & Texas (Katy) became 50-50 owners of
GH&H and shared operating the line from Galveston-Houston in alternate years.

This freight house was built shortly after the devastating 1900 hurricane which took out its
trestle across Galveston Bay and the GH&H used the parallel Santa Fe bridge until a concrete causway
was built for roadways, all railroads and the Houston-Galveston Interurban.  Bonds were sold and a 16 ft tall
Seawall built, and the whole city was raised section by section as it was being rebuilt,   This structure
was a couple miles from the wall and it's land only raised a couple feet.  Five of these steel bumping posts
still survive and I can just imagine 5 tracks of boxcars here in the roaring 20's and during the war years.

My photos this past Wednesday

 

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I should probably add, those windows are not boarded up.  Those are hurricane shutters, to keep
high winds and debris from blowing out the windows.  Oh, and the red sign indicates that the 
Galveston Historical Society is saving the structure for future use.

READ AL ROKER'S book on the 1900 storm and had also read an earlier book. Quite a catastrophe! When MKT folded, did another railroad become owner of the freight house property or did it just stand abandoned?