THE HISTORY OF THE INTERNATIONAL & GREAT NORTHERN RAILWAY
1866, OCTOBER: Birth of International Great Northern Railway. Its charter was issued for the Houston & Great Northern Railroad Co.
1870, AUGUST: International Railroad Co. obtained charter to build from St. Louis to Texarkana to Laredo, via Austin and San Antonio. Construction started in Texas at Longview and Hearne.
1870, DECEMBER: Contract let for first 100 miles of construction by The Houston & Great Northern.
1871, FEBRUARY: First locomotive delivered to H&GN.
1872, FEBRUARY: Negotiations between International RR Co. and H&GN resulted in their consolidation to form International & Great Northern Railway.
1873, JANUARY: Palestine reached from Longview.
1873, MAY: Palestine reached from Houston. I&GN acquired charter rights to Victoria and Columbia RR Co. including extension to Laredo.
1873, SEPTEMBER 18: Jay Cooke & Company of Philadelphia closes its doors beginning the panic. I&GN falls apart.
1874, MAY: I&GN general offices moved from Houston to Palestine.
1874, DECEMBER: Rockdale reached from Hearne.
1876: Austin reached and was Southern Terminus for several years.
1878, APRIL - 1879, NOVEMBER: I&GN in receivership.
1880, MAY: Contract let to build from Austin to San Antonio.
1880, NOV: The I&GN track reaches New Braunfels.
1880: First I&GN Depot was a house adjacent to the tracks.
1881, JANUARY: Contract let for line to Laredo.
1881 FEBRUARY: Track to San Antonio was completed.
1881, JUNE 1: President Gould of MKT acquires I&GN from President Gould of I&GN with two shares of MKT stock for every one share of I&GN stock.
1881, JUNE 25: MKT extended from Greenville to branch with IGN at Mineola for $2M (50 miles of track).
1881, JULY: I&GN general offices moved from Palestine to St. Louis.
1881, SEPTEMBER 28: Since the I&GN needed a branch line to tap the lumber in the Trinity Valley, the Trinity & Sabine Railway was chartered to build from Trinity to Corrigan (Polk County).
1881 Track from San Antonio to Loredo was completed in December.
1882, DECEMBER 9: Gould buys Trinity and Sabine Railway for Missouri Pacific and sells it to the MKT, although the nearest Katy line was 150 miles away.
1883, DECEMBER 18: Jay Gould and Russell Sage purchased Galveston, Houston and Henderson Railroad for MKT but had leased it to the I&GN.
1885: First International & Great Northern depot built in New Braunfels.
1886: James Stephen Hogg was elected Attorney General of Texas. His platform was to compel railroads to maintain their General Offices in Texas, keep properties in good working condition and provide adequate service.
1888, MAY: General offices moved from St. Louis to Palestine.
1888, JUNE 1: Jay Gould looses control of the MKT. George Eddy and Harrison C. Cross appointed Katy coreceivers since Gould's management wouldn't turn over the records. MKT's lease with the Missouri Pacific terminated. Vicious fight over I&GN ended when I&GN was awarded to MoPac in exchange for a cash settlement.
1903, MAY: Line completed from Spring through Valley Junction, Waco to Fort Worth.
1905, JULY 1: I&GN permits MKT use of tracks between Austin and San Marcos. This allows Katy to route trains direct from San Antonio to Austin, rather than through Smithville and San Marcos.
1907, MARCH: Current depot completed in New Braunfels.
1908 - 1911: Railroad in receivership with name changed to International and Great Northern Railway Company.
1914 - 1922: Receivership with name change to International - Great Northern Rail Road Co.
1924, JUNE: I-GN ceased to be independent. Sold to the New Orleans, Texas & Mexico Ry, a subsidiary of the Missouri Pacific.
1926, AUGUST: New Orleans, Texas and Mexico Ry paid $600,000 to Harry Landa of New Braunfels for his short line, San Antonio Southern Ry Co.
1928: 1,148,004 tons of limestone (one percent of total U.S. Production) shipped from Comal County.
1936: Freight Depot built under Breezeway, at the New Braunfels Depot.
1971, MAY: Amtrak took over Passenger Service. Amtrak never stopped in New Braunfels