An Inventory of Records Relating to Railroads at the Texas State Archives, 1836-1950, undated (bulk [ca. 1880]-[ca. 1910])

Agency History

Railroads in Texas were regulated by or were the concern of several state agencies during the time period of this collection. Foremost among these was (and still is to a limited extent) the Railroad Commission of Texas. However, this collection consists of records from state agencies other than the Railroad Commission.

The Texas Comptroller of Public Accounts received annual reports of railroad operating costs from railroad companies in Texas from 1853 to 1895. Legislation approved February 7, 1853 entitled, "An Act to Regulate Railroad Companies," was later enacted in 1879 into Article 4249 of the Revised Civil Statutes of Texas. This article was repealed in 1895. The responsibility for gathering the information had been taken over by the Railroad Commission of Texas, a new state agency created in 1891. Article 6466 of the Texas Revised Civil Statutes still requires the Railroad Commission to collect information on the operating costs of railroads.

Other records in this collection addressed to the Comptroller's Office were in compliance with the Texas Constitution of 1876. Article VIII, Section 8, required that all property of railroads be assessed and taxes collected. This constitutional provision in part became Article 5083 of the Texas Revised Civil Statutes which concerned the value of rolling stock. Railroads were required by Article 5083 to send rolling stock valuation reports to the tax assessor of the county where the railroad had its principal office in Texas. The statute required that one copy also be sent to the Comptroller. Railroads are still taxed on the valuation of their rolling stock as required now by Article 7169 of the Texas Revised Civil Statutes.

The Texas Secretary of State's Office also received railroad records required by legislation. Substitute House Bill 227, 23rd Legislature, required the valuation of all railroad property in addition to the rolling stock. The act, passed on April 8, 1893, was entitled "An Act to define franchises; to make public the value of railroads." It became Article 4584c of the 1895 Revised Civil Statutes and required the Railroad Commission to file with the Secretary of State's Office a valuation report by a railroad company of all of its property. Also required by Article 4584c was the registration of both certificates of stock and of bonds issued by railroads with the Secretary of State, once authorization to issue has been approved by the Railroad Commission.

The Secretary of State's Office received other railroad related records as well. Charters and articles of incorporation, resolutions of stockholders and boards of directors, and deeds are all part of the paper work that every type of corporation was required to file with the Secretary of State by various statutes.

Other early legislation dealing with railroads led to correspondence between the governor's executive office and railroads. A January 30, 1854 law from the 5th Legislature, entitled "An Act to encourage the construction of railroads in Texas by donation of lands," required an inspection of the railroad by a state engineer appointed by the governor before any state lands could be given to the railroad. Later, the 1876 Texas Constitution, Article XIV, Section 3, required that a railroad have ten miles of track in running order before receiving any state land. These laws led to correspondence between railroads and the executive office.

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Scope and Contents of the Records

The types of records found include annual reports of railroads, correspondence, valuation reports of railroad rolling stock, inspection reports of track, resolutions of stockholders and boards of directors, articles of incorporation and charters, and deeds. Not all of these types are found in every railroad's file. Frequently, only one or two documents are in a file. The records date from 1836 to 1950, undated (bulk [ca. 1880]-[ca. 1910]). This collection combines the records from various Texas state agencies that generated or received records concerning railroads except for railroad records from the Railroad Commission of Texas. The major agencies present in this collection are the Comptroller of Public Accounts, the Secretary of State, and the Governor's Office.

The Comptroller of Public Accounts received annual reports of railroad operating costs listing capital stock and the amount actually paid in; amount expended for purchase of land, construction, buildings and rolling stock; indebtedness; earnings from passengers and freight; tonnage and types of freight; amount paid out for repair of cars, engines, buildings and payroll; dividends declared; description of employees; injuries; accidents; and, any sale of lands that had been donated to the railroad by the State of Texas. Annual reports in this collection date from 1853 to 1895.

The Comptroller also received valuations of rolling stock which included quantity, average value, and total value for each type of locomotive, coach, and car; total length of track in miles, value of rolling stock per mile of road bed, and the counties in Texas through which each railroad ran with the number of miles and proportionate value of rolling stock in each county. Valuation reports date from the late 1870s up to the 1910s.

A small amount of correspondence between railroads and the Comptroller is scattered throughout the collection. Incoming correspondence from railroads and counties concern taxes. Some routine outgoing letters from the Comptroller ask delinquent railroads to file their annual reports or tax statements. All correspondence dates from before 1891.

Other miscellaneous Comptroller records include copies of county and municipal railroad subsidy taxes and a list of railroads chartered in Texas in 1881.

The valuation reports received by the Secretary of State list the value of "all franchises, appurtenance, and property" including rights of way and depot grounds; track ties and steel rails; bridging and culverts; excavations, ballasting and embankments; furniture and fixtures; road crossings fencing, and cattle guards; depots, section houses, platforms, water stations, stock pens, telegraph lines; legal, engineering, and charter expenses; interest during construction; and, rolling stock of all kinds. These reports date from 1894 to about 1914.

A few examples of registered stocks and bonds required by the Secretary of State are present for 1895 to 1915. In addition, the Secretary of State received records on the creation of corporate offices, extensions of corporate charters, deeds of sale and merger, mortgages and the issuance of bonds, and stockholders reports. These types of records in this collection date from 1853 until the early 1890s.

Correspondence between railroads and the governor dealt with gubernatorial appointments of inspectors, reports of inspectors, and requests for state land. Also sent to the executive office were petitions for inspection, the reports of the inspectors on the length of track completed, affidavits from railroads that they had commenced work, and letters from the Attorney General that a railroad was in compliance with state regulations. These records concerning state land donations date from the 1850s until the 1880s.

The collection includes some miscellaneous railroad records issued or received by other state agencies. These miscelleanous records consist of scrip issued by the General Land Office to railroads in 1859; petitions to the Legislature from railroads in 1879; and letters to the Attorney General from the Executive Office concerning the donation of state land to railroads from the 1880s.

Finally, printed materials relate to legislation dealing with railroads on both the state and the federal levels. Included are printed copies of acts, speeches, committee testimony, and legal briefs dating from 1878 to the 1910s. There are also some promotional brochures distributed by the railroads from the early part of this century.

Some records have not been processed and are not well described.

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Restrictions

Restrictions on Access

None.

Restrictions on Use

None.

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Related Material

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Administrative Information

Preferred Citation

(Identify the item), Records relating to railroads. Archives and Information Services Division, Texas State Library and Archives Commission.

Accession Information

Accession numbers: 1941/007 and other unknown accessions

Some of the annual reports of railroads included in these records were transferred to the Archives and Information Services Division of the Texas State Library and Archives Commission by the Texas Comptroller of Public Accounts on March 19, 1942. The other records were generated or received by various state agencies including the Secretary of State, the Governor's Office, and the Comptroller of Public Accounts and were probably transferred to the Archives and Information Services Division directly by those agencies, but exact accession information is lacking.

Processing Information

Inventoried by Archives staff, 1970s.

Described by Paul B. Beck, August 1986

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Detailed Description of the Records

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