Railroads in Texas
A Journey in History
A Time Before
Throughout the early ages, travelling and transporting had been a major issue in many countries. Not only did travelling take many months, but it was extremely expensive. Transporting on the other hand had been a slow process. To ship an object from one place to another took months. Especially with many wars going on, it was not a great time in history to move around and without supplies. In the Civil War, railroads were a key help in the north's victory. Railroads had been a great success in being fast, cheap, and reliable. Although Texas had railroads, there were not a lot. It took 7 years for their to be railroads in Texas from the United States.
A Time During
Railroads were building up, and Texas had a great economy. Without railroads though, Texas could not transport cotton or oil to different places. With the help of many builders, railroads starting coming up. The end result was about 10,000 miles of track. Around the 1850's, 3 charters were made to run a track from Galveston Bay to Harrisburg and from Houston to Brazos Valley. With new tracks popping up everywhere, the population increased.
A Time After
After all is said and done, the economy is impressive and exquisite. Texas is in a great state with the railroads being in place. Travelling cost little ($150 usually) and was fast, you could easily transport goods to different states and countries efficiently, and the population started to grow rapidly. Within a few years, times had changed.
Bibliography
"Early American Railroads." Ushistory.org. Independence Hall Association. Web. 03 May 2016.
http://www.ushistory.org/us/25b.asp
Bellis, Mary. "Railroad Invention and History." About.com Inventors. About.com, 2016. Web. 03 May 2016
http://inventors.about.com/library/inventors/blrailroad.htm
History.com. A&E Television Networks. Web. 03 May 2016.
http://www.history.com/topics/industrial-revolution/videos/modern-marvels-evolution-of-railroads