Tracé d'une partie du Chemin de Fer de Galveston à Houston et Henderson. Texas Etats Unis D'Amerique.

Hand colored map of the area between Galveston, Harrisburg, Richmond and Houston, showing "Galveston, Houston & Henderson railroad", also "Buffalo Bayou Brazos and Colorado Rail Road" and "Houston Central rail Road".
According to a color code at the left, the existing rail road system is colored in blue. Two small connections of the "Galveston, Houston & Henderson railroad" are at the time under construction and colored in red.
Two little pieces one between Harrisburg into the direction of Houston, and one trestle across Galveston Bay to Virginia Point are in their planning stage.
The trestle across Galveston Bay, built from the proceeds of a Galveston County bond issue, was finished in 1860, thus completing the rail line between the two cities.

This is probably one of the earliest railroad maps of the region around Houston.
The "Galveston, Houston, & Henderson Railroad" was raising money in London and Paris in 1857 to finance expansion. This map was likely lithographed in Paris, and probably accompanied the French bond prospectus.
The Galveston, Houston & Henderson was completed from Galveston to Houston in 1857.

The Galveston, Houston and Henderson Railroad Company was chartered on February 7, 1853, to build from Galveston through Houston to Henderson. The early incorporators included W. C. Lacy, T. P. Anderson, R. A. Harris, and William M. Tuck. The company was an important carrier as it was, for a number of years, Galveston's only rail connection with the Texas railroad system centering at Houston. Although supported in Galveston and Houston, much of the early financing was provided by investors in Holland and France. Construction of the "Old Reliable Short Line," as the road was later called, began at Virginia Point on the mainland opposite Galveston Island in 1854. However, the first rail was not laid until 1857 and in 1859 the company finally reached Houston, where it terminated at the corner of Main and McKinney. Only two curves, one on either side of Harrisburg, were required between Virginia Point and Houston. A trestle across Galveston Bay, built from the proceeds of a Galveston County bond issue, was finished in 1860, thus completing the rail line between the two cities.
The original company was sold out in 1860, and a new Galveston, Houston and Henderson was organized under the original charter. During the Civil War the railroad remained active, handling the traffic to and from the blockade runners reaching Galveston. The tracks and the Galveston Bay bridge were used by Gen. John B. Magruder in his recapture of Galveston on January 1, 1863. In 1867 the bondholders of the original company forced the railroad into receivership.