Railroads in Rockdale
N 30° 39.276 W 097° 00.056
14R E 691546 N 3393028
The old train depot in Rockdale now serves the public promoting how trains provided valuable resources to this town. The station is now the Rockdale Depot Museum at 100 N. Main St., Rockdale, TX 76567.
Waymark Code: WM14MHK
Location: Texas, United States
Date Posted: 07/27/2021
Views: 3
A well preserved and repurposed depot building continues to serve Rockdale, TX as a train museum instead of an active depot. This classically designed train depot building was built in the early 1870s and provided farmers the vital connection to the various produce markers around Texas. It also ran passenger cars to move the people as well as the products.
The Rockdale Depot Museum has displays of a railroad repair cart, a red caboose, and a passenger car on display behind the building. Inside is information about trains and how the various train companies using this railroad line helped maintain the vitality of this community.
Marker Number: 12561
Marker Text:
Rockdale owes its founding to the International & Great Northern rail line, along which the town was laid out in 1873-74. The railroad gave area farmers access to markets for their crops, and Rockdale became a shipping point for farmers and other local businesses. The San Antonio & Aransas Pass (later Southern Pacific) Railroad operated a north-south route through Rockdale from 1891 to 1959, further contributing to economic growth. The Rockdale, Sandow and Southern Railroad, chartered in 1923 to carry lignite coal to area customers, became Rockdale's third rail line. Although the last passenger train left Rockdale in 1970, the railroad remains a significant part of the community's heritage.
(2001)
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