On July 19, 1876, the first railroad reached Fort Worth. Thanks to volunteers who completed building the road bed after Texas and Pacific Railway filed for bankruptcy, trains could start coming to town, changing the economy and future of Fort Worth — and putting the city on the map.
Rick McCaslin, a historian with the Texas State Historical Association, joined NTX Now's Miranda Suarez and Ron Corning to detail how life looked 150 years ago in Fort Worth, and how the locomotive changed Cowtown.
These interview highlights have been edited for length and clarity. To hear the full conversation, click the 'listen' button above.
A look back in time
By the time the railroad came to Fort Worth, the town was only 3 years old with a population under 7,000 people. Fort Worth was just a small agricultural town, looking to have a bigger impact.
Then, Fort Worth decided to make a deal with Texas and Pacific Railway, and according to McCaslin, the impact was immediate.
"The population of Fort Worth would triple in the next 10 years," he said. "So you can look at the stats and see that they made the right decision."
Train cars, cattle, and business opportunities — oh my!
Before Fort Worth, Kansas was the place to bring cattle, but when the railhead was brought south, the game was changed for Texas ranchers.
McCaslin says these ranchers were a key figure of the Gilded Age, even if they didn't dress like it.
"What people forget is these cattlemen maybe didn't dress as fancy is JP Morgan or Andrew Carnegie, but they were every bit part of the Gilded Age investment," McCaslin said. "It didn't produce high finance, it produced beef."
Modern day
Trains are still vital for transporting goods into and out of Texas. In fact, since 1911, Texas has the most railway milage than any other state.
Even though we mainly rely on highways now, McCaslin says they will never compare to what the railroads can do.
"Railroads are part of Texas history and they're part of what settled up the American West and integrated this country," he said. "Of course, highways will come along much later but they have never completely replaced the amount of cargo that rails can carry in a very efficient and cost-effective manner."
Miranda Suarez and Ron Corning are the hosts of KERA's NTX Now. Got a tip? Email Miranda at msuarez@kera.org or Ron at rcorning@kera.org.
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