2020-2 Remembrances Special Edition1
City of Schertz
Remembrances Special Edition 2020-2
Prepared By: Schertz Historical Preservation Committee Railroad (Galveston, Harrisburg and San Antonio Railroad Line) Involvement with 19th Century Migration to South Central Texas
By 1911, there were forty different railroad corporations operating in the State to include the
Galveston, Harrisburg and San Antonio (G. H. & SA) line.1 It was the G.H. & SA line that
brought rail transportation to Schertz in 1877.
Railroad corporations were anxious to see Texas develop. As Texas grew, so did the railroads
grow in passenger and product commercial business. The G.H. & SA Rail-line was no
exception. The Rail-line published leaflets sent to European countries promoting the benefits of
the Texas area for farming. The G.H. & SA Line established “farm trains” staffed with
agricultural experts teaching new immigrants the proper way to farm on Texas lands. It also
brought in migrant labor to help with harvests.2 Promotional advertising was particularly useful
as exemplified by a lengthy pamphlet (see Table of Contents below) distributed by W.G.
Kingsbury, a government-appointed migration promotional agent and executive for G.H. & S.A.
1. Hemphill, Hugh, The Railroad of San Antonio and South Central Texas. Maverick Publishing, San Antonio,
TX 2006, p. 1. 2. Ibid, p. 3.
2
Kingsbury’s pamphlet was titled: “A Description of Southwestern and Middle Texas, The Soil,
Climate, and Productions; Together with Prospective Sources of Wealth and Great Inducements
Offered to all Classes of European Emigrants”, dated 1878.
Kingsbury’s pamphlet covered many aspects of the State’s features to including soils, climate,
farming, and raising stock such as horses, hogs, and sheep. He includes copies of letters of
endorsement from the Texas Governor, Secretary of State, and Secretary of Commerce. The
pamphlet included testimonials from persons familiar with the territory such as a letter sent to
Colonel T. W. Pierce, President of the G.H. & SA from the Honorable James White, ex-member
of the English Parliament, who represented Brighton for 17 successive years. Mr. White traveled
largely over Western and Southwestern Texas. The letter, dated May 7, 1876, was unsolicited
and reported complimentary text as follows:
Having, I think , said enough to explain my views as to the best means of utilizing the
magnificent property under your control I would add that during my stay in Texas, I have
taken all the pains I could to learn from books and State documents, and also from
residents, all I could about this country, and I hesitate not to express my profound
conviction that none of our Australian or American Colonies nor the wide world itself,
possesses a territory which can offer anything like the equivalent advantages which
Texas does to the British settler. 3
The G.H. & SA railroad line had its eastern terminal connection at the port of Galveston, Texas.
The Line made its initial passage through the Cibolo Valley, Texas area in 1877 in route to San
Antonio. From San Antonio, the railroad line was continued in two directions, one west to the
Mexican border, the other in a northwesterly direction to El Paso, Texas where it met with the
Southern Pacific line. The latter two lines, when joined, formed the Southern Pacific Railroad
and established the shortest transportation route across the American continent by nearly 1,000
miles.
Kingsbury was boastful throughout his promotional paper of the territory he was recommending
for British citizen migration. One of many comments contained in the paper illustrates his
boastfulness:
I am prepared to offer to parties who will settle in that country many inducements.
These are rich and fertile lands, so cheap that the laboring man may get his board and
ten acres for an honest month’s work and the rich man nay find large profits upon his
investments. A climate so healthful that the death rate, taken from official sources,
reaches but ten and a half to the thousand. An atmosphere so pure that fresh meat
xposed to a free circulation will cure without tainting, and people may sleep out of doors
the year round without the slightest risk of fevers.4
3. Quote taken from the Kingsbury pamphlet as provided by research department of the DeGolyer Library,
Southern Methodist Library.
4 Ibid.
3
In the late 19th Century, Texas had a serious economic incentive for encouraging migration from
states outside of Texas and from European nations. The arrival of railroad travel made it
possible to assist in solving the economic problems brought about by the insufficient population
of its vast territory. By 1880, the distances and hardships of travel to San Antonio and
surrounding areas were greatly relieved by train travel. It was inducements offered by Kingsbury
on behalf of the G.H & SA Railroad and numerous other promotional publications5 that helped
foster the growth of South and Southwest Texas populations throughout the mid to late 19th
Century.
The historical importance of the introduction of railway transportation to Cibolo Valley
communities warrants special mention. Farm productivity rose tremendously with the
introduction of rail transportation. Citizens of the Valley enjoyed new opportunities for
shopping in the cities, traveling to visit family and friends, and conducting business with
associates in faraway locations.
The recent Guadalupe County Commissioners Court restoration of the G.H. & SA caboose at
1052 FM 78 serves as a reminder of the important role railroads (particularly the G.H. & SA
Railroad Line) played in the recruitment and settlement of European peoples throughout the
Cibolo Valley during the late 19th Century.
5 Handbook of Texas Online, “EMIGRANTS’ GUIDE TO TEXAS,” accessed May 23, 2019,
http://www.tshzonline.org/handbook /online/articles/kvc01.