Road and Rail Windshield Tour
Routes and Relics in Old Seguin
This town offered lodging to travelers as early as 1843, when the Magnolia Hotel was one of the first inns to open its doors back in the days of the Republic of Texas. It still stands on the edge of downtown, South Crockett and East Donegan Streets.
Remarkably, part of this frontier tavern and inn was built of an early experimental form of concrete. The fireproof quality of the concrete must have given peace of mind to guests aware that others were drinking, smoking, and keeping warm beside an open fireplace.
Stagecoaches made their overnight stops here for about 30 years, from 1848 until the coming of the railroad in 1875.
This town, the county seat, was situated slightly off the shortest distance between Houston and San Antonio, the way followed by the surveyors for the Galveston, Harrisburg & San Antonio Railway. But John Ireland, then the local representative (he was later elected Governor), was able to get a bill through the legislature requiring railroads to route their lines within one mile of a courthouse.
Soon a mule-drawn streetcar began to carry mail, express packages, and passengers from the depot over a very carefully measured mile to downtown, from about 1885 until 30 years or so had gone by.
Drive north, up Austin St. to the railroad tracks to see the physical evidence of the era when the world moved by rail.
A few years ago our beloved passenger depot was demolished on orders of Southern Pacific's management, not so long before it disappeared in the merger with the Union Pacific.
Now when you hear the mournful whistle blowing, you could wonder if the railroad is haunted by the loss of its depot, the trains crying out as they search for it in the lonesome hours of the night.
Turn left on New Braunfels St.
One striking landmark structure remains from the heyday of the Southern Pacific, when this was the main line carrying the famed Sunset Limited to San Antonio, El Paso, and on to Los Angeles. Well, it still is the main line from the Gulf to the Pacific, but the Sunset Limited doesn't stop here anymore.
A huge S.P. freight depot stands beside the tracks a couple of blocks west of Austin St. Today it is a feed store, but the current operation does not hide the strength of its century-old thick walls and its powerful brick arches.
Before you leave the depot district, other buildings are worth a look.
Go back to Austin Street.
Across the street, as close to the tracks as it could get, is a fine little building that once housed a saloon. It seems to consist of pressed tin, cast metal, the locally made artificial cast stone called Sonka stone, brick, cement, glass, and wood -- is there any building material they failed to include in this structure? Drive up beside it for a better look.
Cattycorner, at Austin and New Braunfels, see what must be a relic from the early years of the motor age. This was surely one of the first, if not the very first, buildings here erected to serve as a gas station.
And on the southeast corner of Austin and New Braunfels Streets, is a Starcke store building, part of a business district that built up around the depot. The corner of the building is sliced off to provide a corner entrance, and, in the fashion of a century ago, to show respect to the intersection.
Back then this was a very important intersection indeed. Nearby were several stores, the Depot Cafe, and even a bank, as well as several fine homes. Families in this area had good jobs with the railroad or ran businesses that served it or its customers.
Go back west on New Braunfels St. a couple of blocks to Bowie St., and turn left.
Maybe you can still see the tracks embedded in the roadway.
Cross Kingsbury St., carefully.
Here you can explore an industrial ghost town, with several semi-abandoned factory buildings arrayed along the abandoned railroad spur that brought in carloads of raw materials and hauled out finished goods.
Here was the ice plant, a refrigerated storage locker, a milling operation, and assorted other factories. In their prime from the 1900s through the 1920s, these buildings slipped into disuse in the latter half of the past century. A few have been converted to other uses, and the old mill, a brickwork beauty, may find a new life as an office building. Turn left on Cedar (or any street as you head down Bowie) and go two blocks.
Turn right on Austin St. and go back downtown to the fourth light.
Remarkably, part of this frontier tavern and inn was built of an early experimental form of concrete. The fireproof quality of the concrete must have given peace of mind to guests aware that others were drinking, smoking, and keeping warm beside an open fireplace.
Stagecoaches made their overnight stops here for about 30 years, from 1848 until the coming of the railroad in 1875.
This town, the county seat, was situated slightly off the shortest distance between Houston and San Antonio, the way followed by the surveyors for the Galveston, Harrisburg & San Antonio Railway. But John Ireland, then the local representative (he was later elected Governor), was able to get a bill through the legislature requiring railroads to route their lines within one mile of a courthouse.
Soon a mule-drawn streetcar began to carry mail, express packages, and passengers from the depot over a very carefully measured mile to downtown, from about 1885 until 30 years or so had gone by.
Drive north, up Austin St. to the railroad tracks to see the physical evidence of the era when the world moved by rail.
A few years ago our beloved passenger depot was demolished on orders of Southern Pacific's management, not so long before it disappeared in the merger with the Union Pacific.
Now when you hear the mournful whistle blowing, you could wonder if the railroad is haunted by the loss of its depot, the trains crying out as they search for it in the lonesome hours of the night.
Turn left on New Braunfels St.
One striking landmark structure remains from the heyday of the Southern Pacific, when this was the main line carrying the famed Sunset Limited to San Antonio, El Paso, and on to Los Angeles. Well, it still is the main line from the Gulf to the Pacific, but the Sunset Limited doesn't stop here anymore.
A huge S.P. freight depot stands beside the tracks a couple of blocks west of Austin St. Today it is a feed store, but the current operation does not hide the strength of its century-old thick walls and its powerful brick arches.
Before you leave the depot district, other buildings are worth a look.
Go back to Austin Street.
Across the street, as close to the tracks as it could get, is a fine little building that once housed a saloon. It seems to consist of pressed tin, cast metal, the locally made artificial cast stone called Sonka stone, brick, cement, glass, and wood -- is there any building material they failed to include in this structure? Drive up beside it for a better look.
Cattycorner, at Austin and New Braunfels, see what must be a relic from the early years of the motor age. This was surely one of the first, if not the very first, buildings here erected to serve as a gas station.
And on the southeast corner of Austin and New Braunfels Streets, is a Starcke store building, part of a business district that built up around the depot. The corner of the building is sliced off to provide a corner entrance, and, in the fashion of a century ago, to show respect to the intersection.
Back then this was a very important intersection indeed. Nearby were several stores, the Depot Cafe, and even a bank, as well as several fine homes. Families in this area had good jobs with the railroad or ran businesses that served it or its customers.
Go back west on New Braunfels St. a couple of blocks to Bowie St., and turn left.
Maybe you can still see the tracks embedded in the roadway.
Cross Kingsbury St., carefully.
Here you can explore an industrial ghost town, with several semi-abandoned factory buildings arrayed along the abandoned railroad spur that brought in carloads of raw materials and hauled out finished goods.
Here was the ice plant, a refrigerated storage locker, a milling operation, and assorted other factories. In their prime from the 1900s through the 1920s, these buildings slipped into disuse in the latter half of the past century. A few have been converted to other uses, and the old mill, a brickwork beauty, may find a new life as an office building. Turn left on Cedar (or any street as you head down Bowie) and go two blocks.
Turn right on Austin St. and go back downtown to the fourth light.