Houston East & West Texas Railway Directors’ Record, 1889-1891 Donated to The History Center

The History Center recently received a Houston East & West Texas Railway Company (HE&WT) Director’s Record for the years 1889-1891. The journal was donated by Mike Hipp of Grapevine, Texas.

The HE&WT railroad probably did more to shape the cultural and environmental landscape of Angelina County than any other development. Its tracks crossed Angelina County in 1881-1882, making an eventual connection between Houston, Texas and Shreveport, Louisiana. The railroad soon gave rise to the new communities of Lufkin and Diboll, which have been the largest population centers in the county ever since. The tracks still operate today under Union Pacific ownership.

The journal contains minutes of board of directors’ meetings in New York City between the dates January 5, 1889 and May 12, 1891. Directors included John C. Short, Edward L. Bremond, and John C. Chew. William A. Miner was the secretary. Some of the pages include an impressed seal of the company, depicting a lone pine tree.