San Antonio & Mexican Gulf

The charter was granted in 1850 to connect San Antonio and Victoria, Texas to "any suitable point on the Gulf between Galveston and Corpus Christi." Construction started in 1856 and stopped in 1861 when the impending war made raising funds impossible. The road connected Port Lavaca on the coast with Victoria.

The road was destroyed by the Confederates in late December 1863. A Union general who surveyed the road a few days later said that "the railroad from Lavaca to Victoria is thoroughly destroyed; its destruction amounts more nearly to annihilation than the other roads which the rebels have destroyed. The ties are all burned, and the iron bent, broken, and carried off; the locomotives are broken up by sledge hammers, and the passenger and burden cars are burned."

Black's Number 107 (map)
Track 28 miles of 5 foot 6 inch gauge of unknown type and weight
Locomotives 3; 3 names
Cars Unknown
Stations 3
Officers Superintendent
Significant Documents

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