How a Lot of Our Families Got Here
Texas has always been a place for starting over.
It was true when the Spanish crown settled Canary Islanders in San Antonio in 1731. It was true when Stephen F. Austin brought the Old 300 to his new colony a century later.
Opportunity and new beginnings are why people flooded into Texas during the republic era and the early years of statehood. And railroads took it to another level in the 1870s.
The map you see here was produced by the International and Great Northern Railroad to encourage people to move to Texas. You might think that was about collecting fares from people coming here, but that's not the case.
The I&GN had only 61 passenger cars, but it owned nearly 2000 freight cars. Filling those cars full of goods new Texans needed is what the company needed.
What I love about this map is how it shows so many towns and how they were connected by road, railroad, or river. It gives you an idea of how your ancestors saw their world.
It's a map you can sit and ponder a good while.
Physical Details
- Limited Edition of 254 copies
- Each one is hand-numbered
- 24 by 15.5 inches
- On heavyweight fine-art paper
This is a high quality fine-art print.
The paper is acid free, cold press cotton watercolor with an elegant lightly textured finish. This surface allows the inks to 'bite', reproducing the shading and tonality of the original map vividly, beautifully, and exactly.
The inks are guaranteed color-fast for 80 years, which means you won't need to lay out the extra money for UV glass. You can hang your map in direct sun and it will be just as bright when passed on to the next generation it is the day it ships.
It's an instant heirloom. Get yours before they're gone...and get one to give to a friend. He'll owe you!
