The first rail line reached this area in 1881, and town lots for Hondo City were sold that year. Built by the Galveston, Harrisburg and San Antonio Railway, the line connected with the Southern Pacific System building east from California. The railroad was vital to Hondo's early growth, but rail traffic began to decline in the 1940s. The last passenger train, pulled by engine No. 6, left Hondo Station on June 8, 1958. The Southern Pacific Depot was moved in 1970 from its original site seventeen blocks east to its present location.