Exhibition: Full Steam Ahead - The Texas and Pacific Railway

The Texas and Pacific Railway Company (TandP Railway) began plans to build a railroad line from Shreveport, Louisiana all the way to San Diego, California, creating a southern route that would help with winter climate complications. The TandP Railway began construction in 1872 and the first service between Longview and Dallas opened in July 1873. As construction moved west, talks of where to lay the rail line through Taylor County began, and by 1880, a group of land speculators converged to decide on the present location of Abilene. The first Abilene depot opened in 1881 and was just a railroad car at Pine Street and the current overpass. It was followed by a two-story building constructed in 1882 and another one-story building built in 1902.