The Southwestern Historical Quarterly, Volume 59, July 1955 - April, 1956 Page: 370
587 p. : ill., maps, ports. ; 23 cm.View a full description of this periodical.
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Southwestern Historical Quarterly
effort to revive Harrisburg as the commerce of both ports was
threatened by the growth of Houston. Thus the real motive
behind the Harrisburg railroad was the desire on the part of
Galveston to destroy Houston as its chief commercial rival. Just
as the Houston and Brazos Railroad Company was Houston's
answer to the challenge of the Galveston and Brazos Railroad, so
the Harrisburg Railroad and Trading Company was Galveston's
answer to Houston's challenge.'
The Harrisburg charter was similar to the previously granted
ones. The company was to construct a railroad from the city of
Harrisburg to the Brazos River. The capital stock was limited
to $600,0o0, divided into shares of $ioo each. The company had
the right of eminent domain; it was empowered to bring suit
for tracts of land 50 feet in width. The charter contained a non-
banking clause and provided for the forfeiture of the charter if
the company failed to begin construction within eighteen months
or had not completed thirty miles of track within five years of
the passing of the act.25 Of the four railroads chartered during
the Republic, the Harrisburg was the only one that actually
began construction. The company made a survey, threw up em-
bankments, and purchased ties, although the Harrisburg railroad
itself was never built. Its charter was soon forfeited and the
Republic of Texas "lived and died without ever hearing the
whistle of a locomotive."21
The complete lack of results in railway construction during
the period of the Republic was undoubtedly due to the inability
of the companies to obtain money with which to carry out con-
struction. There was a great dearth of fluid capital in Texas"2
and foreign capitalists were wary of investing in a country with
24Harrisburg retained its corporate existence until after the First World War. At
that time the United States Government deepened the Bayou in order that the
largest sea-going ships might find their way to Houston. "Ironically, the Houston
Ship Channel did not go all the way to Houston but stopped at Harrisburg; but,
as always, Houston made the last move-it extended its boundaries and engulfed
Harrisburg." Ibid., io6.
25Gammel, Laws of Texas, I, 488-491.
26Deussen, "The Beginnings of the Texas Railroad System," Transactions of the
Texas Academy of Science for 19o5, IX, 43.
27During the year 1842, only $3 in specie was received by the government and
"a balance of $17.44 carried over from 1841 was jealously retained in the treasury."
Newton and Gambrell, A Social and Political History of Texas, s11n.370
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Texas State Historical Association. The Southwestern Historical Quarterly, Volume 59, July 1955 - April, 1956, periodical, 1956; Austin, Texas. (https://texashistory.unt.edu/ark:/67531/metapth101162/m1/396/: accessed April 30, 2024), University of North Texas Libraries, The Portal to Texas History, https://texashistory.unt.edu; crediting Texas State Historical Association.