Map of the Galveston, Houston and Henderson Railroad

This map depicts one of the earliest planned rail lines in Texas — the Galveston, Houston, and Henderson Railroad.

Intended to connect the cotton fields of northeast Texas to the shipping ports of Galveston, the first tracks were laid in 1857. Starting from Virginia Point opposite Galveston on the mainland, the tracks reached Houston in 1859. In 1860 a trestle bridge to Galveston Island completed the island's connection to Houston. However, the railroad's investors decided not to continue the tracks to Henderson, and the line stopped in Houston.

This map is in French, most likely because the railroad’s founders traveled to London and Paris in 1857 to raise funds, and the map was used to attract investors.