Alexander is an unincorporated community located in southern Erath County in Central Texas, United States. [1] Alexander is located in the southern part of the county, along Texas State Highway 6 and Fm-914. The town was originally called: "Harper's Mill" when the Post Office was approved for operation around the 1870s. The name was changed in the 1880s, when the Texas Central line, part of the historic Katy Railroad, was built from east to west through the townsite on its way from the Waco area to Stamford, with a branch to Cross Plains from the line at De Leon. In 1907, the Stephenville North and South Texas Railway, part of the Cotton Belt Route, was constructed from north to south and intersected with the Katy's line in Alexander. This made the town an important community for business in the area. The Cotton Belt Route ran from Stephenville through to nearby Carlton. On October 17, 1934, the Cotton Belt Route was abandoned from Stephenville to Hamilton. The Katy Railroad remained through Alexander until its abandonment in the late 1960s. The Alexander post office closed in 1970 and the population remained at a steady 40 from the 1970s through 2000.
Erath County is a county located in the U.S. state of Texas. According to the United States Census bureau its population was 42,545 in 2020. The county seat is Stephenville. The county is named for George Bernard Erath, an early surveyor and a soldier at the Battle of San Jacinto.
De Leon is a city located in Comanche County in the U.S. state of Texas. Its population was 2,258 in the 2020 census. It is commonly associated with being named after the Spanish explorer Ponce de León, but the town is actually named for its location on the Leon River, which flows directly north and east of the community, and drains into nearby Proctor Lake.
Ennis is a city in eastern Ellis County, Texas, United States. The population is 20,159 according to the 2020 census, with an estimated population of 23,686 in 2023. Ennis is home to the annual National Polka Festival.
Quinlan is a rural city in the southern part of Hunt County, Texas, United States, within the Dallas–Fort Worth metropolitan area. As of the 2020 census, it had a population of 1,414. It is 5 miles (8 km) west of Lake Tawakoni.
Elgin is a city in Bastrop County in the U.S. state of Texas. The population was 9,784 at the 2020 census.
Mabank is a town in Henderson and Kaufman counties in Texas, United States. Its population was 4,050 at the 2020 census.
The St. Louis Southwestern Railway Company, known by its nickname of "The Cotton Belt Route" or simply "Cotton Belt", was a Class I railroad that operated between St. Louis, Missouri, and various points in the U.S. states of Arkansas, Tennessee, Louisiana, and Texas from 1891 to 1980, when the system added the Rock Island's Golden State Route and operations in Kansas, Oklahoma, and New Mexico. The Cotton Belt operated as a Southern Pacific subsidiary from 1932 until 1992, when its operation was assumed by Southern Pacific Transportation Company.
New York State Route 98 (NY 98) is a state highway in the western part of New York in the United States. The southern terminus of the route is at an intersection with U.S. Route 219 (US 219) in the town of Great Valley in Cattaraugus County. The northern end is at an interchange with the Lake Ontario State Parkway in the town of Carlton in Orleans County, near the southern shore of Lake Ontario. In between, NY 98 serves the city of Batavia, connects to the New York State Thruway, and passes by the Attica Correctional Facility. Most of the route passes through rural, undeveloped areas; however, in southern Genesee County, it traverses more urbanized areas that lie in and around Batavia.
The history of Dallas, Texas, United States, from 1856 to 1873 charts the period from the grant of the town's charter to the convergence of the railroads.
The Colorado and Southern Railway was an American Class I railroad in the western United States that operated independently from 1898 to 1908, then as part of the Chicago, Burlington and Quincy Railroad until it was absorbed into the Burlington Northern Railroad in 1981.
Texarkana Union Station is a historic train station in the Texarkana metropolitan area serving Amtrak, the United States' national passenger rail system. The Arkansas-Texas border bisects the structure; the eastern part, including the waiting room and ticket office, are in Texarkana, Arkansas, but the western part is in Texarkana, Texas, meaning stopped trains span both states. The station was built in 1928 and was added to the U.S. National Register of Historic Places in 1978. Today it is the second busiest Amtrak station in Arkansas.
Carlton is a census-designated place (CDP) in Hamilton County in Central Texas, United States. It lies in the northeastern part of the county and has an estimated population of 70.
Maxwell is an unincorporated community in Caldwell County, Texas, United States. According to the Handbook of Texas, it had a population of 500 in 2000. The community is located within the Greater Austin metropolitan area.
Metcalf Gap is a pass through the Palo Pinto Mountains located in the Western Cross Timbers region of northern Texas. Located roughly midway between the towns of Breckenridge and Mineral Wells, the pass lies at an elevation of about 1,200 feet and forms a distinct gap in the escarpment formed by the Palo Pinto Mountains, a fifteen-mile long range of cuesta-type hills that runs southwest to northeast across southern Palo Pinto, County. The pass, as well as a small, similarly named community at the eastern end of the pass, were named in honor of local rancher and surveyor J.J. Metcalf, who surveyed, among other things, the townsite of county seat Palo Pinto, then known as Golconda.
Comyn is an unincorporated community located in Comanche County in Central Texas, United States. According to the Handbook of Texas, it had a population of 40 in 2000.
Clairette is an unincorporated community located in Erath County in Central Texas, United States.
Selden is an unincorporated community in south central Erath County, Texas, United States. The community is located along Fm-913 between U.S. Routes 67 and 281, approximately 9 miles (14 km) south-southeast of Stephenville. It was named after a man who owned a nearby ranch during the 1850s. Selden was granted a post office in the 1890s, and by 1900, the community had grown to near 100 residents. The post office disbanded in 1915 after significant population fluctuations. The population remained at around a steady 71 from 1980 through the 1990s. Through the 2000s, Selden maintained a Baptist church, a Methodist church, two cemeteries, a community center, and a Volunteer Fire Department. It continues to be a primarily farming, dairy and ranching community.
The Stephenville North & South Texas Railway (SN&ST) was incorporated in Texas on February 4, 1907, by Stephenville and Hamilton business interests. Its original standard gauge 43-mile line was built between Stephenville and Hamilton and completed in late 1907. The first train operated between Stephenville and Hamilton on Christmas Day 1907. Regular service began in January 1908. Four apparently identical wooden depots of a standard design were built at Hamilton, Carlton, Spurlin, and Alexander. The SN&ST shared a Union Station with its original primary railroad connection, the long-established Fort Worth & Rio Grande Railroad at Stephenville.
James Postell Douglas was a soldier, politician, and businessman in the state of Texas. He is regarded as the founder of the Cotton Belt Route, a major railroad system connecting Texas and Arkansas north to St. Louis, Missouri.
The history of the Southern Pacific ("SP") stretched from 1865 to 1998.