Historic Walker County

C H A P T E R
RAILROAD TOWNS AND SAM HOUSTON
NORMAL INSTITUTE, 1872-1900
B Y J E F F R E Y L . L I T T L E J O H N A N D G O N Z A L O T A M E Z
I V
T H E R A I L R O A D A R R I V E S
In the midst of the chaos surrounding Reconstruction, the railroad arrived in Walker County.
Many Huntsville and Waverly residents rejected the newfangled transportation system,
however, suggesting that it might bring undesirables to the area and spark another yellow fever
outbreak. The refusal of the county’s two largest settlements to work with the railroad industry meant
that the Houston and Great Northern Railroad company looked to other areas to build its depots
and tracks.
Coming from the South, the company established its first local depot at Waverly Station in 1870.
This site sat roughly ten miles west of Old Waverly and attracted many residents from the historic
settlement. In fact, the depot soon changed its name to New Waverly, and the town received its own
post office in 1873. Local planters used Polish immigrants to bring in the cotton, and the city boasted
several general stores, boarding houses, cotton mills, and saloons by 1896. 43
Moving north and east, the Phelps-Dodge Construction Company built the railway line for the
Houston and Great Northern Railroad directly through Walker County. The construction company
established a depot called Phelps in 1871. The stop was named for the company itself, but it soon
developed into a community with a post office, hotel, general store, and school. Later, when
Huntsville’s leaders realized that they had made a mistake in opposing the railroad, a branch line
opened connecting Huntsville to the main line at Phelps. 44
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A train arriving in New
Waverly, 1910.
COURTESY OF THE WALKER COUNTY
HISTORICAL COMMISSION.
C h a p t e r I V ✦ 2 1