Tracks to the Sea: Galveston and Western Railroad Development, 1866-1900 (Centennial Series of the Association of Former Students, Texas A&M University)

The Industrial Revolution rode into Texas on the railroads. The entire state witnessed the political and economic climate change as tracks were laid, creating urban centers and a new governmental body: the Texas Railroad Commission. At the same time, Galveston was striving to become the primary seaport for the Great West. Together, the corporate strategy of the railroads and the city's desire for greatness transformed Galveston into a focal point of Texas railroad ventures, and by the end of the nineteenth century Galveston had achieved national prominence as a transportation center.

In Tracks to the Sea, Earle B. Young traces the efforts of "railroad generals" Jay Gould and Collis Huntington to control Texas' railroads and the struggles of the railroads built during this era, such as the Houston and Great Northern and the Gulf, Colorado and Santa Fe. He also examines the goals and rivalries that shaped the routes and profits of Texas railroads.

Young, using resources from the Rosenberg Library's Galveston History Center, the Kansas Historical Society, and the Library of Congress, also devotes chapters to the bankruptcy and revival of Galveston's Gulf, Colorado and Santa Fe Railway.

Tracks to the Sea is ideal for anyone interested in the history of Texas and Galveston, as well as the dreams, deals, and feuds that shaped the railroad industry of the 1800s.