Texas Railroad History - Tower 108 and GH&H Tower - Houston (Bonner's Point)
A Crossing of the Houston & Texas Central, the
Galveston, Houston & Henderson, and the Missouri, Kansas & Texas railroads
.jpg)
Above Left: Southern Pacific
photographer "La Lumiere" took this photo facing southwest, capturing the
sunny east face of Tower 108 along with the shady north face. An individual is
standing on the upper landing of the staircase on the south side of the tower
looking toward the camera. The photo was
taken in November, 1918, seven months after the tower was commissioned. Note the palm tree planted at the northeast corner of the tower. (Ken Stavinoha
collection) Above Right:
Steve Hesse located this undated image of the west face of Tower 108 in a larger photo at the Houston
Metropolitan Research Center. The palm tree is bigger, but unfortunately, it's
in the northwest corner, so it was either transplanted or it's not the same tree
(hat tip, Mark Elvig.) From these two photos, we can summarize the lower floor
faces of the tower: east face, door and window in center; north face, single
window in center; west face, separated doors and / or tall windows; south
face, staircase and upper floor door (east). (Houston Public
Library, used with permission.)
Above Left: area map
of Bonner's Point on the north side of Buffalo Bayou in downtown Houston Above Right:
This photo taken by John W Barriger III in the 1930s shows a glimpse of Tower
108 (partly obscured by utility poles) where the tracks curve near Houston Terminal Warehouse Cold Storage Co.
Barriger was
facing southwest at the rear of his business car as
his train proceeded northeast toward Tower 26 and
Englewood Yard. Note the single window on the north
side of the tower, also visible in the "La Lumiere" photo
further above. There are no apparent palm trees. (John W Barriger III National
Railroad Library)
The Galveston, Houston & Henderson (GH&H) Railroad
was founded in Galveston in 1853, and by 1859, had completed a line into Houston
ostensibly headed for the northeast Texas town of Henderson. At about the same
time, the Houston & Texas Central Railway (H&TC,
originally chartered as the Galveston & Red River Railway) began building northwest from
Houston toward the rich agricultural area of the Brazos River, completing 81
miles to Millican by 1861. After the Civil War, H&TC expanded rapidly, reaching
Dallas in 1872 and Denison
near the Red River in 1873. Meanwhile, a series of financial
problems and court battles for GH&H eventually resulted in two other
railroads having equal joint ownership of it: the Missouri, Kansas & Texas
(MK&T, "Katy") Railway, and the International & Great Northern (I&GN)
Railroad. It was in the interests of both GH&H and H&TC to connect in Houston to provide
service from central and north Texas to the Port of Galveston. This connection
was made north of Buffalo Bayou using a shared east / west bridge over White Oak
Bayou located immediately north of its confluence with Buffalo Bayou. At the
time, this area was apparently known as Bonner's Point, but relatively few
references to that geographical name have been found. GH&H used the shared bridge for a
transfer track to reach the H&TC passenger station and other facilities west of
the bayou while H&TC used the bridge to reach facilities east of the bayou that
were owned by Southern Pacific (SP) which had gained control of H&TC in 1883.
When the Katy reached Houston from the west in 1893, it
built a passenger station near White Oak Bayou and a bridge over the bayou
to connect with GH&H. The Katy bridge was located a short distance north of
the shared GH&H / H&TC bridge. At some point after 1907, GH&H stopped using the shared
bridge and it was then exclusively used by SP. This appears to have occurred
c.1920 when the GH&H's two owners decided that the GH&H did not need to operate
passenger trains. Both the Katy and I&GN provided passenger service to Galveston
on the GH&H track they shared and each had their own depot in Houston. East of both bridges, the Katy, GH&H and H&TC
junction at Bonner's Point was a busy rail junction, but it was not
among the initial crossings ordered interlocked when the Railroad Commission
of Texas (RCT) gained authority (in 1901) to mandate interlocking plants
for specific crossings. The proximity of the two
passenger stations, the two bridges over White Oak Bayou, and a nearby GH&H
bridge over Buffalo Bayou meant that trains passing through this area operated at
low
speeds. Hence, stopping at a diamond to cross an another track (as required
by state law for uncontrolled crossings at grade) was not a
significant time penalty.
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Left: By 1916, the opening of
Houston Union Station
(in 1911), the addition of industry tracks near the junction, and the
substantial increase in volume and complexity of rail movements through
Bonner's Point resulted in the need for an interlocking plant. The
Galveston Tribune of October 31,
1916 reported that RCT had ordered installation of an interlocking plant
at the Katy / H&TC crossing. The article asserted that the GH&H
(mistakenly named the "Houston and Henderson railroad") was exempt from
the order. By the time the tower opened, the GH&H was a full
participant, meaning that it shared the recurring operations and
maintenance (O&M) costs for the tower with the other two railroads. The cost
allocations were typically based on the percentage of interlocking plant
functions attributable to each railroad, but those splits for Tower 108
have not been found. |
Tower 108 was delayed a full year by
steel shortages during World War I. It
was finally commissioned for operation by RCT on April 6,
1918 to control the Bonner's Point crossing with a 32-function electric
interlocker serving the GH&H, MK&T and HT&C railroads. H&TC
was assigned the O&M responsibility.
Right:
This image of Tower 108 appeared in the book Southern
Pacific Railroad in East Texas written by David Bernstein. The caption in the book reads:
"Viewed from White Oak Bayou Bridge is Tower 108, approximately one half
mile east of Grand Central Station. The two tracks curving to the left
are Southern Pacific's line to Tower 26.
The Missouri - Kansas - Texas Railroad is visible crossing the SP line
in front of the tower. The road in front of the tower is San Jacinto
Street. (Joe R. Thompson courtesy of the Railroad and Heritage Museum,
Temple, Texas.)"
In 1923, RCT officially reported that the function count for Tower
108 had decreased to 30 and that the GH&H was no longer a participating
railroad, presumably because access to SP's passenger station was no
longer needed. [This likely had occurred earlier but the annual
interlocker reports sent to RCT by the railroads were not always kept up
to date.] In 1926, Tower 108's function count increased
significantly to 48 functions for undetermined reasons, and it remained at that count through the
final comprehensive interlocker list published by RCT at the end of
1930. |
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In 1927, the H&TC was leased by SP to the Texas & New Orleans (T&NO)
Railroad which was to become SP's principal operating company for Texas and
Louisiana lines. In 1934, almost all of SP's subsidiaries in those states were fully
integrated into T&NO including H&TC. At that point, H&TC ceased to exist.
According to Sanborn Fire Insurance Co. maps of
Houston, a 2-story "GH&H RR Signal Tower" existed at Bonner's Point along the west end of the GH&H
bridge over Buffalo Bayou, approximately 800 ft. east of Tower 108. This GH&H
tower is depicted on the 1907 Sanborn map ten years before the construction of
Tower 108. The function of this tower is unknown, but its proximity
to the GH&H bridge and the lack of any other obvious purpose implies an association
with operations over the bridge. It seems likely that its function would have
been subsumed into Tower 108. References to this tower have yet to be found in
the RCT archives maintained at DeGolyer Library, Southern Methodist University, and it is
likely that it did not have an RCT-authorized function.
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Above Left: This photo shows Tower 108 in the background, overlooking the rail junction at Bonner's Point. The camera
is facing northeast with the double track SP bridge in the foreground. As in the
snippet further above, the palm tree to the left of the tower dates the photo to at least the late 1920s
(Houston Metropolitan Research Center, Houston Public Library.)
Above Right: This excerpt from
an undated photo in the Texas Dept. of Transportation archives appears to be
late 1960 or early 1961 based on freeway construction that appears in the larger
photo. The view is to the southwest, and Tower 108 is clearly visible as are the
bridges over Buffalo Bayou and White Oak Bayou. The presence of the "GH&H
Signal Tower" cannot be determined.
  |
Far Left: Tower
108 is right of center in this image extracted from a larger
digitized photo provided
by the
Houston Area Digital Archives of the Houston Public Library. The photo was
taken
in the 1940s by R. L. Browning facing east. The track to the right of the tower
is the GH&H line to the bridge over Buffalo Bayou.
Left: Farther east, the same photo
might provide a glimpse of the GH&H Tower. |
 |
 |
Far Left: The 1907 Sanborn map shows both the
shared H&TC / GH&H bridge
(lower) and the Katy bridge (upper) across
White Oak Bayou immediately north of its confluence
with Buffalo Bayou. Where
the railroads cross in the middle of Allen Street, a one-story "R R Flagman"
structure is shown (magnification at left,
top). The flagman presumably
served a
function that was later incorporated into Tower 108 (this appears to be unique;
a "R R Flagman" structure has not been seen on any other Sanborn maps
anywhere in Texas.)
Willow St.
runs north / south and was renamed North San Jacinto sometime between 1907 and
1924 when it was joined with San Jacinto St. by a bridge over Buffalo Bayou.
The
Bonner's Point Hotel (left,
bottom) was located at the southeast corner of Allen
St. and Willow St. (noted as "brick paved") just off the lower right
corner of the larger map. This is one of the few Bonner's Point
references found thus far. |
 |
Left:
Continuing east along Allen St., the 1907 map shows a 2-story "GH&H RR
Signal Tower" at the west end of the GH&H bridge over Buffalo Bayou
(magnification below).
The tower also appears on the 1924 Sanborn map. Perhaps the " Br. 20' "
notation indicated that the start of the bridge was twenty feet from the
east face of the tower. The "Retaining Wall" on the map is still intact.
 |
 |
Left:
Tower 108 appears in the lower left
corner of this snippet from the 1924 Sanborn map. It was located at the
northeast corner of the intersection of Allen St. and N. San Jacinto St.
(previously Willow St., though the street is unmarked on this image.) The mapmaker depicted the tower as a 2-story office
(magnification below.)
The street running vertically in the center of the map was platted but
does not appear to have ever been built. As is
often (but not always) the case with
Sanborn maps, the cartographer did not depict the external staircase.
Neither Tower 108 nor the GH&H Signal Tower survived to the present and
the fate of their buildings is undetermined. |
| Right:
The Interstate Commerce Commission (ICC) was given major regulatory
powers over interstate railroads in the Transportation Act of 1920. Over
time, courts confirmed that ICC's authority superseded RCT's authority.
Hence, the railroads gradually migrated their requests for signal, track
and interlocking changes to the ICC instead of RCT. This item from the
ICC Reports of 1942 provides a
brief description of a modification request for changes to Tower 108
that was approved by the ICC on August 11, 1942. |
 |
Below:
These two images ((c)historicaerials.com) date from 1957 (left) and 1962 (right)
showing the apparent demise of Tower 108 (yellow circles), replaced by what
appears to be a smaller, white equipment cabinet. Changes in the vicinity of the
GH&H tower location (pink circles) also occurred. It appears that by 1957, the
GH&H tower was gone, replaced perhaps by a white
equipment cabinet that is no longer apparent in the 1962 image.
Right: This photograph
and the one below it are supplied by Bruce Blalock showing near and far views of the original
1893 Katy depot. Bruce explains:
"This is the original station
built by the Katy in 1893. The later one was built virtually in the same
location and completed on February 1, 1914. On the left side is a team
track and road where the M&M (Merchants & Mechanics) Building stands,
which is the University of Houston Downtown campus. The photographer is
standing on the Katy's trestle over White Oak Bayou, which will be
replaced in later years with a steel girder bridge. The road running
left to right will become the original North Main Street of Houston." |
 |
Bruce continues:
"The other image (right)
shows Buffalo Bayou as it looked in the 1890s. Allen's Landing is on the
left and the bayou curves around to the left going upstream. The
railroad bridge is the Houston & Texas Central crossing of White Oak
Bayou at the confluence of those two streams. This line would eventually
become the Sunset Route with Southern Pacific's Grand Central Station
built near the left edge of the image. The Katy's first depot can be
seen just above the left bridge pier. The tugboat on the right is
handling a barge of baled cotton." |
 |
In 1879, rail baron Jay Gould was named President of
the Katy despite owning very little stock. He accomplished this by infiltrating
Katy management with his loyalists as early as 1873, soon after the Katy had
opened its bridge over the Red River. Gould accurately predicted that
controlling the Red River bridge would eventually become important to his plans
to migrate his rail empire into Texas. In December, 1880, he leased the Katy
to Missouri Pacific (MP), a major Midwest railroad he controlled
through a large ownership position. The lease terms were onerous, allowing MP to
siphon Katy profits to the detriment of Katy stockholders. They eventually
(1888) fired Gould and sought bankruptcy protection, requesting a court
order to break the lease to MP, which was granted. In 1890 in a different
lawsuit, the Texas Supreme
Court affirmed a lower court ruling that the Katy had not complied with an 1876
amendment to the Texas Constitution requiring railroads owning tracks in Texas
to be headquartered therein. A new Texas railroad charter for the Katy was
issued by the Texas Legislature in 1891 to establish a Texas-based subsidiary
(headquartered in Denison) and legalize various tracks built or
bought during the Gould era. With its new charter and subsidiary, the Katy emerged from its receivership in 1892,
free and clear of both MP and the Gould family. It would remain independent for
nearly a hundred years. A bankruptcy in the early 1920s resulted in a new name
for the reorganized company, the Missouri - Kansas - Texas (MKT) Railway,
but it was still the Katy.
In 1982, Union Pacific (UP)
acquired MP and allowed it to continue operations as a wholly-owned subsidiary.
In 1988, UP bought the Katy and merged it with MP, a hundred years after the
bankruptcy judge had broken MP's lease of the Katy under Gould. In the mid 1990s,
SP merged with UP. By early 1998, SP and MP were fully merged into UP and
operating under the UP name.
Above Left: Facing west from the Heights Hike & Bike
Trail atop the former Katy bridge over White Oak Bayou, the track on UP's former SP bridge
over White Oak Bayou sits off-center
(to the south) on the concrete supports because the track on the north
side was removed. The original double-track bridge had a spur to the SP
passenger station used by the GH&H. (Google Street View, 2014)
Above Right: Looking northwest on the Heights Hike &
Bike Trail atop the former Katy bridge over White Oak Bayou, the Katy depot would have
been visible in the distance to the left in the early years. The large
building is part of the University of Houston's (UH) downtown campus. (Google Street View,
2014) Below Left: John Davis
examines the foundation of the GH&H tower at the west end of the Buffalo Bayou
bridge. The small retaining wall appears on the 1907 Sanborn map. The GH&H main
line sat atop the grade above the retaining wall. That entire section of GH&&H
right-of-way has been rebuilt as part of the Heights Hike & Bike Trail. (Jim King
photo, 2006) Below Right:
Looking east, the Heights Hike & Bike Trail now crosses Buffalo Bayou on the
former GH&H bridge. (Google Street View, 2016)
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Left: This
Google Maps simulated 3D view of the area formerly known as Bonner's
Point faces south-southeast. The remaining rail line, now owned by UP,
crosses the former SP bridge, passes the Harris County
Jail, and curves back to the northeast toward
Englewood Yard. The former Katy and GH&H
rights-of-way host the Heights Hike & Bike Trail. |
| Right:
Looking east, there's a green hedge and a crepe myrtle growing where Tower 108 sat.
The rectangular concrete (or brick) outline surrounding the hedge on all
sides suspiciously resembles the perimeter foundation of Tower 108 (but
may be too small.) The red and white bollard marks the Heights Hike
and Bike Trail which now occupies the GH&H right-of-way proceeding east
toward Buffalo Bayou. The two utility poles may be the same ones in the
right-side image at top of page. (Google Street View, 2019) |
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| Right:
Looking west from the same location, the UP bridge crossing White
Oak Bayou is at left (rebuilt sometime after the earlier Google Street
Views from 2014.) The pedestrian is on the Heights Hike & Bike Trail,
having just departed the section that sits atop the former Katy bridge
over White Oak Bayou. [Whether the Katy's bridge structure was retained
or replaced during the trail construction is undetermined, but the
bridge occupies the same location.] A UH downtown campus building
looms in the background. (Google Street View, 2019) |
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