San Leon Station

The North Galveston, Houston and Kansas City Railroad was chartered in 1892. Only 16 miles of track were completed between North Galveston (now called San Leon) and Virginia Point, a small community on the mainland opposite the city of Galveston. In 1895 the company was sold to The Galveston, LaPorte, and Houston Railroad, which later became the Galveston, Houston and Northern in 1899. In 1905, the GH&N merged with the Galveston, Harrisburg and San Antonio which merged with the Southern Pacific in 1934. When I moved to San Leon in 1975, the Southern Pacific Railroad still ran freight trains along the line from Galveston past San and Leon and up through Kemah, Freeport, and beyond. The track was four miles away from the the house, but at night, the sound of the whistles, the rumble of the big diesel electric locomotives, and the rattling freight cars were so loud they could drown out the TV in the evening. Sometime in the 1990's, the railroad bridge between Kemah and Seabrook was removed, cutting the line. I didn't notice the trains were gone for a long time, until one day I realized I had not seen any traffic along the line for over a year. The Southern Pacific Announced in October 1995 that they were abandoning the line between Seabrook and San Leon as part of the merger with Union Pacific. I began my exploration of the NGH&KC RR line near Dickinson Bayou. The abandoned railroad line crosses Dickinson Bayou on a swing bridge which is still rusting slowly in place, as shown in this image from Google Earth. Across the bayou, you can see the track of the old Highway 146 where it continues south toward Galveston. On the left is the high bridge which replaced the old highway draw bridge that once stood next to the railroad swing bridge. I parked my pickup in the parking area of the boat launching ramp which lies under the north end of the high bridge over Dickinson Bayou and took this long range shot of the railroad swing bridge. I wanted to get some close up shots of the bridge, so I went looking for the railroad tracks, but first I hid in my pickup truck while a rather large, hungry looking dog walked across the parking lot. It was a cowardly thing to do, but so what, nobody will ever know but you and me. Unfortunately the dog was headed in the same direction I planned to go, so I waited awhile before following him with my camera. I followed the traces of pavement that had been old highway 146 for awhile, paralleling the railroad tracks which were on an embankment. Finally I found gap in the trees and a trail leading up to the tracks. No doubt the trail was made by fisherman looking for access to the old bridge in order to drop their lines in the brackish water. The closer I came to the railroad bridgehead, the more overgrown the tracks became. Finally, there it was in front of me, a grand old lady from railroading history. According to this geodetic survey map, the San Leon Depot once stood not far from the railroad bridge. From the map, we can see that the depot (small black dots to the right of the words "San Leon Station") was just north of a grade crossing and just south of the siding that lead to the water's edge (these tracks are still in place). This image includes what must have been the original site of the depot. The track curves slightly to the left in the distance, which agrees with the right of way drawn on the geodetic survey map. According to a historical note I found on a web-site, the San Leon Depot building was moved to Clear Lake Shores and converted into a residence. I went to the address, 631 Clear Lake Road, and took this picture of the building that stood there. Presumably, this is what the San Leon Depot looks like today. This is the best photograph I have been able to find of the San Leon Depot in its heydey, about 1924. This picture was published in the Galveston Daily News January 13 2007. Later, I followed the abandoned railroad north to Kemah and south to where the adtive portion of the railroad begins. We shall save that report for another day.

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