America's Second Transcontinental Railroad

America's second transcontinental railroad was a major achievement in American history and a victory for statesmen including Henry Clay and John C. Calhoun, who as early as 1845 had supported in the United States Congress the idea of a transcontinental railroad. That goal was effected in 1869, but a need remained, as advocated in Congress, for a southern route. In 1869 the Southern Pacific began constructing such a line eastward from the west coast. In 1871 the Texas & Pacific began building a line, under a special Act of Congress, from east Texas to southern California. The two roads ran a dramatic race that reached its climax as their construction crews neared this site. Southern Pacific reached Sierra Blanca on Nov. 25, 1881, while crews of the Texas & Pacific were 10 miles to the east. On Nov. 26, 1881, Jay Gould, for the Texas & Pacific, and Collis P. Huntington, for the Southern Pacific, reached an agreement that in Sierra Blanca the roads would approach, meet, and form one continuous line to the Pacific Ocean. The lines were joined here on Dec. 15, 1881, and on Dec. 16 transcontinental service was inaugurated.

Sierra Blanca, Texas · United States