Streetcars and capitalists: tale of success, failure and changing times

  • William & Weatherington Encampment Photo 1885. Lettering on the side of the car: Hancock & Hanna Springs; Hotels & Depot; Lampasas St. R.W. & Trans. Co STEREOSCOPIC PICTURE SOURCES: SMU LIBRARIES DIGITAL COLLECTION. COURTESY DEGOLYER LIBRARY, SOUTHERN METHODIST UNIVERSITY, LAWRENCE T. JONES III TEXAS PHOTOGRAPHY COLLECTION.
    William & Weatherington Encampment Photo 1885. Lettering on the side of the car: Hancock & Hanna Springs; Hotels & Depot; Lampasas St. R.W. & Trans. Co STEREOSCOPIC PICTURE SOURCES: SMU LIBRARIES DIGITAL COLLECTION. COURTESY DEGOLYER LIBRARY, SOUTHERN METHODIST UNIVERSITY, LAWRENCE T. JONES III TEXAS PHOTOGRAPHY COLLECTION.

    EDITOR’S NOTE: Lampasas historian Jeff Jackson has researched numerous local history topics. The following story offers details about the railroad coming to town and the city’s streetcar line.

    In December 1880, a meeting was held with officials from the Gulf, Colorado and Santa Fe Railroad to discuss the possibility of building tracks to Lampasas. Within two years of that meeting, railroad tracks w…