| Tracks to the Sea: Galveston and Western Railroad Development, 1866-1900 Contributor(s): Young, Earle B. (Author) |
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ISBN: 0890968837 ISBN-13: 9780890968833 Publisher: Texas A&M University Press OUR PRICE: $26.96 Product Type: Hardcover Published: June 1999 Annotation: After the Civil War a convergence of circumstances provided Galveston with an unparalleled opportunity for growth and development. Galveston and the Great West traces Galveston's emergence as a key American port city. From the initial conception of a deep water port capable of handling the largest ships through the thirty-five years of effort it took to realize the dreams of a such a harbor, author Earle Young describes the technical and political struggles. Emphasizing the critical roles of technology and enterprise, Young shows how engineers, business leaders, and civic leaders enlisted the support of officials in the Rocky Mountain and Plains states to win federal appropriations, create a harbor channel, and build jetties and railroads, creating a land-sea transportation network to serve the developing western regions of the nation. |
| Additional Information |
| BISAC Categories: - History | United States - State & Local - General - Transportation | Railroads - History - Business & Economics | Industries - General |
| Dewey: 385.097 |
| LCCN: 98-54146 |
| Series: Centennial Series of the Association of Former Students Texas A & M University (Hardcover) |
| Physical Information: 0.85" H x 6.44" W x 9.61" (1.14 lbs) 184 pages |
| Themes: - Chronological Period - 1851-1899 - Cultural Region - Southwest U.S. - Geographic Orientation - Texas |
| Descriptions, Reviews, Etc. |
| Publisher Description: The Industrial Revolution rode into Texas on the railroads. The entire state witnessed the political and economic climate change as the tracks were laid, creating urban centers and even a new governmental body, the Texas Railroad Commission. At the same time, Galveston was a city on a mission to become the primary seaport for the Great West. Together, the corporate strategy of the railroads and the city's own desire for greatness paved the way for Galveston's growth and transformation into a focal point of Texas railroad ventures. In Tracks to the Sea: Galveston and Western Rail Development, 1866-1900, Earle B. Young traces the efforts of "railroad generals" Jay Gould and Collis Huntington to control Texas' railroad ventures, as well as the struggles of the new railroads built during this era, such as the Houston and Great Northern, the Gulf, Colorado and Santa Fe, and the Houston and Texas Central. Young also examines the men behind the rails, and the goals and rivalries which shaped the routes and profits of Texas railroads, especially Galveston's George Sealy in his battle with New York's Gould for the route to the thriving seaport and Gould's competition with Huntington over who would dominate the southwestern lines. By the end of the nineteenth century, these railroad builders had brought Galveston to a position of national prominence as a transportation center. In combination with the ships calling at Galveston's new deep water harbor, the railroads provided connections for all of the western states with markets around the world. Young, using resources from the Rosenberg Library's Galveston History Center, the Kansas Historical Society, and the Library of Congress, devotes chapters to the bankruptcy and revival of Sealy's Galveston's Gulf, Colorado and Santa Fe Railway. Tracks to the Sea is ideal for anyone interested in the history of Texas and Galveston, as well as the dreams, deals, and feuds that shaped the railroad industry of the 1800s. |
