Aransas Pass in San Patricio County, Texas — The American South (West South Central)
Terminal Railroad
Photographed By James Hulse, August 31, 2021
1. Terminal Railroad Marker
Built in 1892, the Aransas Harbor Terminal Railroad ("Old Terminal Railroad") provided a means for transporting rock from mainland quarries to jetties under construction in the pass. In 1909 the Aransas Pass Channel and Dock Company was chartered to build a channel from the first South Texas deep water port at Harbor Island to Aransas Pass. As the channel was dredged, the displaced sediment was piled along one side and became the basis for a railroad bed.
Opened in 1912, the new terminal railroad extended along the roadbed and a series of eight trestles. It connected with the San Antonio and Aransas Pass Railroad in Aransas Pass, and was an important cotton shipping tool. Passenger service was inaugurated with the "Toonerville Trolley", passenger coaches pulled by a converted model T ford truck, which transported workers from the mainland to a new shipyard on Harbor Island during World War I.
After Corpus Christi was designated a deep water port in 1922, business declined for Harbor Island and the railroad. In 1931 the rail line was converted to a road for automobiles, which was in turn replaced by a new highway in 1960. Hurricanes in 1961 and 1970 left few visible remnants of the terminal railroad.
Erected 1989 by Texas Historical Commission. (Marker Number
this page online
Topics. This historical marker is listed in these topic lists: Railroads & Streetcars • Roads & Vehicles • Waterways & Vessels. A significant historical year for this entry is 1892.
Location. 27° 54.038′ N, 97° 8.594′ W. Marker is in Aransas Pass, Texas, in San Patricio County. Marker is at the intersection of East Goodnight Avenue (State Highway 361) and Porpoise Drive, on the right when traveling east on East Goodnight Avenue. The marker is located next to a gas station by the street. Touch for map. Marker is at or near this postal address: 355 East Goodnight Avenue, Aransas Pass TX 78336, United States of America. Touch for directions.
Other nearby markers. At least 8 other markers are within 7 miles of this marker, measured as the crow flies. Aransas Pass First Baptist Church (approx. 0.3 miles away); Great Land Lottery of Aransas Pass (approx. 0.7 miles away); VFW (approx. 0.7 miles away); John Wiebel VFW Post 2932 (approx. 0.7 miles away); First United Methodist Church (approx. 0.9 miles away); Cementerio San Antonio de Padua (approx. 2.8 miles away); Late Pleistocene Ingleside Fauna (approx. 3.9 miles away); Early Ingleside Schools (approx. 6.4 miles away). Touch for a list and map of all markers in Aransas Pass.
Also see . . . Aransas Harbor Terminal Railway.
The D. M. Picton firm of Rockport was contracted to do the(Submitted on October 1, 2021, by James Hulse of Medina, Texas.)jetty work. Picton and J. P. Nelson began by constructing a railroad to carry granite blocks to be used on the jetties into the Gulf of Mexico. The railroad was built on a series of man-made islands connected by trestles ending at Morris and Cummins Cut, a distance of 3˝ miles. Rock for the jetties was brought into Aransas Pass by the San Antonio and Aransas Pass Railway and then onto the Terminal Railway. At the end of the line the rock was loaded onto barges for the trip to the jetty site. Later the barges were equipped with tracks so that the entire car could be transferred to the building site. Old-timers referred to this line as the Old Terminal Railway to distinguish it from one later completed all the way to Harbor Island by a different route. The Old Terminal was abandoned in 1917. Source: The Handbook of TexasPhotographed By James Hulse, August 31, 20212. Terminal Railroad Marker
Photographed By James Hulse, August 31, 2021
3. The view of the Terminal Railroad Marker from the street
Credits. This page was last revised on July 11, 2022. It was originally submitted on September 30, 2021, by James Hulse of Medina, Texas. This page has been viewed 244 times since then and 36 times this year. Last updated on July 11, 2022, by Joe Lotz of Denton, Texas. Photos: 1, 2, 3. submitted on October 1, 2021, by James Hulse of Medina, Texas. • J. Makali Bruton was the editor who published this page.
