Vintage photograph of a steam locomotive on a wooden bridge over Waller Creek in Austin, Texas, likely taken in the year 1871.

A History of Trains in Austin

1871: Austin gets a train.

Vintage photograph of a steam locomotive on a wooden bridge over Waller Creek in Austin, Texas, likely taken in the year 1871.

This is the first still existing picture of a train in Austin. It is believed to have been taken in 1871. It is pictured here stopping at Waller Creek, supposedly to let passengers off at the depot several blocks behind it.

The original “depot” was an open-air platform on East 5th Street in Austin. The tracks ran down 5th street. The rail line was called the Houston & Texas Central.

Austin 1885 Birdseye map showing an aerial view of a city with buildings, streets, and railways. Railway station is visible with tracks and buildings surrounded by residential areas.

Snipped from the 1887 Birds Eye map, here you can see the open air depot 15 years after it was built. You can see that it crossed Waller creek at the far left in two places— on 3rd and 4th streets. On the far right, the tracks are labeled. By 1887, the rail roads had grown rapidly in Texas and there were two lines using this depot. Houston & Texas Central (H&TC) and Austin & Northwestern (A&N). This depot was sometimes referred to as “The narrow gauge depot” referring to the width of the tracks.

1882: First Proper Depot Built

Railroads rapidly expanded across Texas and the United States during this time. Many rail lines shared depots. Austinites had nothing but complaints about their open air platform. They were hot, the sun was in their eyes, and there weren’t any trees planted to provide shade to the ladies!

Austin citizens expressed anger at the City Council for setting what they considered unreasonable restrictions on the railroads, preventing them from obtaining right-of-way to build the Union Depot that Austinites so vocally wanted.

In 1881, the city council granted right-of-way to the Houston & Texas Central railroad, initiating creation of a Union Depot at Congress & 3rd. They most likely used an existing structure as the depot, but it did the job. Service opened in May, 1882. It functioned as a depot for International & Great Northern and Houston & Texas Central together. Their union would only last a few years.

1870's photograph of train depot in Austin, Texas.

In 1888, International & Great Northern upgraded the depot to a much more spectacular structure. Then, in 1902, Houston & Texas Central built one catty-corner to it at Congress & 3rd.

Historic photo of Congress Avenue Train Station with horse-drawn carriages, featuring a brick building with a dome, dated early 20th century Austin, Texas.

International & Great Northern Depot at SW Congress & 3rd. 1888 - 1955.

Historic photo of Congress Avenue Train Station in Austin, Texas.

Houston & Texas Central Depot under Construction at Congress & 3rd in 1902.

Historic train station scene on Congress Avenue with two steam locomotives and people milling around.

Houston & Texas Central Depot stood at NE Congress & 3rd from 1902 to 1965.

Historic train depot in Austin, Texas with distinctive tower and arched windows

The three depots — the original narrow gauge platform in East Austin, and the two depots at 3rd & Congress — would remain the three main Austin depots until the mid 1900’s.

Historic Austin photograph of a busy train station with a crowd of people and horse-drawn carriages.

3rd & Congress

1880’s or 1890’s photo captures a crowd at 3rd & Congress. The building in this photo still stands.

Historic Austin street scene with a large crowd gathered near a train station, featuring an old passenger train, horse-drawn carriages, and vintage cars in the background.

The 1880 Austin Directory entries regarding the railroads and depots indicate that H&TC and I&GN were the only train companies in town at that time:

Old document text listing locations of Houston and Texas Central Railway offices and depots in Houston and Austin, Texas.
Old text listing International and Great Northern Railroad offices' locations.

The 1885 Austin Directory provides an extensive list of destinations. In just 14 years, trains had thrown the country wide open for Austinites. A third line, Austin & Northwestern, had entered the scene as well.

Table listing train stations and mileages on Houston and Texas Central Railway and International and Great Northern Railway, with distances from Austin to various locations.
Table of distances to various stations from Austin, listing miles to each station. Includes details of the Austin and Northwestern Railroad offices and key personnel names.

In the early 1900’s, Missouri Kansas & Texas came to Austin and began sharing the H&TC depot. This was the southern branch of the Union Pacific Railroad.

Fun

Fact!

The Missouri Kansas & Texas merged with Mountain Pacific Railroad in the 1980’s. The tracks still run through Austin. The highway that runs alongside it is called Mopac, short for Mountain Pacific.

Vintage map of the United States from "The Texas New Yorker's" perspective, highlighting principal railroad routes.

When the first train came to Austin, trains were already well established in the eastern and southern states. For context, here is a train map of the United States in 1874. Austin was on the dividing line between East and West, or between ample railroads and sparse railroads. Source: Texas State Archives Map Collection

1883 Texas railroad system map from Galveston News edition

1883 Map of railroads in Texas, with all stops labeled. Source: Library of Congress

Vintage railroad map of Texas from 1926 showing rail lines and routes across the state, with insets of major cities; detailed and marked with administrative boundaries and neighboring regions.

1926 Map of Texas Railroads - Source: Library of Congress