Texas Transportation Museum
11731 Wetmore Road, San Antonio, TX 78247
(210)490-3554
History Of San Antonio Transportation
The museum is indebted for some of the pictures to;
The Institute of Texan Cultures,
The San Antonio Conservation Society,
and the Daughters of the Republic of Texas
A general timeline of San Antonio transportation history
For more detailed timelines on civil aviation, railroads and road travel, go to bottom of page
Click on thumb nail images to enlarge.
From the beginning, transportation developments have come because of the need to move "stuff"
better. Canals were created to move material, not people. To get a better idea of why
transportation improvements were so important to San Antonio, think of the place, only without
roads. Not airports, no tarmac, just trails. No navigable rivers or water to fill canals.
In 1851, Irish nuns wrote, describing their trip to San Antonio from Galveston, 'The roads are
nothing more than pathways beaten by use though the prairies. And, of conditions in winter,
"You can scarcely imagine anything so horrible as the Texian mud. The bogs of old Ireland
could never come up to this."
In the 1850s, freight charges from Matagorda bay were 1 ¼ cents per pound. Two types of wagons
were used. Mexican 'cartas,' large, square, single axled wagons with massive, solid, six foot
wheels. Pulled by two oxen, they were slow, but would get through mud and rain. Anglo 'Prairie
Schooners,' huge, long, two axled wagons, covered with canvas, which were pulled by two horses
or mules. They were faster, but more delicate. On a good day, a 'carta' could travel three
miles, carrying one bale of cotton.
Most San Antonio trade was with Mexico and wagon trains of one hundred mules were not uncommon.
Government organized wagon trains went to and from the north.
Cattle drives were infrequent and went where ever the best prices were. A $14 steer fetched
$100 in California, but the drives took over five months.
A stage coach left for Austin three times a week during legislative sessions. Another line
went to Indianola, via Seguin, Gonzales, Cuero and Victoria and cost $12.50. From Indianola
you could go by boat to Galveston or New Orleans.
1853, Nov. 24. A visit to the town by General Thomas J. Rusk, a railroad spokesman.
1874 The San Antonio Street Railway Company was formed.
1877, Feb. 2. The arrival of the first steam train arrived on tracks laid by the Galveston,
Harrisburg & San Antonio Railroad. It was a "smoke belching, stove-pipe model pulling a
baggage car and one passenger coach, filled with officials. The train was met by a band, and
it's arrival was celebrated by half the town's population, some 8000 people.
1878, June 22, the first mule drawn street car begins service. It went from San Pedro
Springs to Alamo Plaza.
1881 The arrival of the second railroad, the International & Great Northern. Their lines
came from the North east.
1883 The first train arrived from San Francisco on a line built by the Southern Pacific.
1884 San Antonio & Aransas Pass Railroad (SA & AP) was formed, with it's general offices in San Antonio.
A depot is built, at the corner of Alamo and S. Presa.
1885 The SA & AP railroad made its inaugural trial run to and from
Floresville.
1886 The SA & AP reached Corpus Christi, making a closer deep water port than Galveston accessible to San Antonio, plus
creating a flurry of economic growth in the rich farm land areas towards the Rio Grande Valley.
1887 The SA & AP was running three passenger trains and up to six freights a day into and out of
San Antonio.
1887 Inaugural public train to Boerne, TX, 31 miles to the north, It cost 95 cents and took two hours
1890 Electric streetcar lines proliferated, each run by a different company using different
colors. A temporary electric streetcar was set up to deliver visitors to the "International
Fair," south of the city center at Riverside Park. One the fairs features was a 'Southern
Pacific" day.
1890 First traffic signal light in San Antonio was installed on Commerce Street, opposite the first I & GN depot.
1891 The first professional fire company was formed and two horse-drawn steam pumpers, like the American LaFrance pumper
at the Texas Transportation Museum, were acquired.
1891 Four different street car companies are operating in San Antonio; The Belknap, the McCrillis, the West End and
the Alamo Heights.
1893, December 22. The San Antonio & Gulf Shore Railway was chartered.
1897 The San Antonio & Gulf Shore, following a bankruptcy, was sold and becomes the San Antonio & Gulf Railroad.
1898 May 30. Teddy Roosevelt and the Rough Riders leave San Antonio for Cuba from the SA & AP
depot.
1899 Houston Street takes over from Commerce as the city's main commercial and shopping street, in part because
vendors on the already too narrow Commerce persuade city leaders to place the tracks
on the next street up, which is wider and less cluttered with hitching posts, etc.
1901 All street car companies are consolidated into one, the San Antonio Traction Company.
1901 The Southern Pacific completes its new depot on East Commerce Street.
1905 Horse, electric, gasoline and steam powered vehicles compete to make their way on San Antonio Streets.
Motorized vehicles take part in Fiesta parades.
1905 The San Antonio & Gulf is consolidated into the Galveston, Harrisburg & San Antonio Railroad.
1906 The I & GN, later the Missouri Pacific, begins construction of it's new "Moorish design" depot
at the corner of Commerce and Medina.
1907 The new Southern Pacific depot is gutted by fire.
1910, March 2. First US flight of a military owned plane took place in San Antonio, piloted by Lt. Benjamin Foulois.
It cost the Army $300 to assemble the $150 Wright Brothers plane that arrived
in 17 crates. Lt. Foulois learned to fly using a correspondence course. His flight, at Mac Arthur
Field, Ft Sam Houston, lasted from 9:30 AM to
9:37, attaining an altitude of 100 feet. He made his maiden flight, his first solo flight and
his first crash landing all at the same time.
1911 May 11. Lt. George Kelly becomes the first military pilot killed in a plane crash.
1912 A city ordinance is passed requiring all automobiles to be numbered.
1912 March 18. The boiler of a Southern Pacific steam locomotive exploded, killing 26 people.
The locomotive was being repaired in the railroads shops at the south of town.
1913 Broadway is created out of River Avenue and Avenue C.
1913, Jan. 13. The San Antonio, Fredericksburg & Northern Railroad is chartered.
1913, Nov. 1. The 25 mile line, from the Fredericksburg junction on the SA & AP line just east
of Comfort, and which necessitated the building of a tunnel, is completed.
1915 The entire US air force, all six planes, is located, under Lt. Foulois, at Fort Sam
Houston.
1915 The Stinson family open their civilian flying school and airfield south of town.
Now know as Stinson Municipal Airport, it is the second oldest continuously operating civil
airport in the USA.
1915 The "Old Time Trail Drivers Association" is formed.
1917 The military buys the San Antonio Flying Field and renames it Kelly Field, for Lt George
Kelly, first military pilot casualty, who crashed avoiding soldiers near Fort Sam. Brooks
Field is also created, also named for a military pilot killed in a crash.
1917 The first MKT , Missouri-Kansas-Texas, train arrives at their new depot on the corner of Durango and S. Flores.
Interestingly, the depot was built by the San Antonio Belt & Terminal railway, a company created
by the MKT, and was then immediately leased to the MKT for 99 years.
1917 The San Antonio Traction Company and the San Antonio Gas & Electric Company are
consolidated into the San Antonio Public Service Company. The new company builds the city's
first motorized bus to serve Fort Sam Houston.
1917 The US's first military balloon school opens.
1917, Dec. 31. Having proven to be unprofitable, the San Antonio, Fredericksburg & Northern
Railroad was sold at a foreclosure sale. It was bought by a Martin Cole, who deeded the railroad
to the Fredericksburg & Northern Railway Company.
1919 The new Fredericksburg & Northern Railroad fared much better than its predecessor. It
grossed $15,353 and showed a profit of $3,003. The railroad continued to grow and had two
locomotives. Servicing the debt of acquisition, itself a hangover from the initial company's
failure to pay construction costs, would bedevil the railroad.
1923 First "store bought" bus arrives in San Antonio.
1925 Southern Pacific takes over the SA & AP. Depot is leased out and is used by a furniture
store for almost ten years.
1927 May 19. The movie "Wings," filmed in San Antonio wins the first ever best picture Oscar.
1928 First air mail service from San Antonio begins. Marjorie Stinson is the pilot. Her destination?
Seguin, thirty miles away.
1928 Motorists are still being advised not to leave San Antonio in their cars if has recently
rained or if the forecast says it might.
1929 First combat parachute demonstrations take place at Brooks Air Force Base.
1930, June 20. Randolph Field, at the time the world's largest air field and training center,
is dedicated.
1933 The electric street railway system is abandoned, the first large city to do so. They are
replaced by motorized buses.
1936 The first parking meters are installed.
1939 Old SA & AP depot is demolished.
1940 The municipal airport is completed.
1941 Wartime gasoline rationing is introduced at five gallons per month.
1942 Lackland Air Force base suddenly grows from a mesquite covered bombing range to the largest
training base in the world.
1942, July 27. The Fredericksburg & Northern Railway ceases operation. It had been hoped a
planned Gulf & West Texas railroad would link up to it and acquire it, but the war ended those
plans.
1942 The San Antonio Transit Company is formed. A private company, it takes over the city owned bus network.
1943 Planning begins for a post war freeway system for the city, which experienced phenomenal growth
during WWII.
1944The airport acquired by the city on the northeast part of town is re-named San Antonio International Airport.
1949 San Antonio's first expressway, HWY 281, is completed.
1951 The first ¾ mile section of IH 10 is finished, from Woodlawn Avenue to Martin Street.
1953The first terminal at San Antonio International Airport is opened.
1956 IH 35, from Alamo Street to Broadway is complete.
1957 First section of Loop 410 is finished. IH 35 complete south to Division Avenue.
1959 The city owned San Antonio Transit System takes over the privately run San Antonio Transit Company
1964 IH 10 W to De Zavala is complete, and to the east the road is done to outside the city.
Fist section of Loop 1604, from Bandera to IH 10 is completed.
1964 July. Last M-K-T railroad passenger train arrives in San Antonio, carrying 70 passengers. Following the loss of
it's mail carrying contract to road haulage, the depot is closed for good.
1967 Loop 410 is complete. It is just under 52 miles long. Loop 1604 west of HWY 90 is complete.
1968 Satellite concourse is added to the terminal at the Int'l Airport.
1969 The MKT depot is demolished.
1970 29 September. The last ever Missouri Pacific "Eagle" train unceremoniously departs from San Antonio. It was the only
passenger train still using the once bustling depot. The train consisted of two passenger cars carrying 10 passengers from Laredo.
None got off and no one boarded in San Antonio.
1971, May 1. AMTRAK takes over all passenger service in the USA. Southern Pacific was the
last independent passenger service to San Antonio. AMTRAK takes over the SP depot.
1978 Via Metropolitan Transit is formed, as a county wide operation.
1979. Last section of Loop 1604 is complete.
1982. 22 December. Union Pacific buys the Missouri Pacific.
1984 SA Int'l Airport's second terminal is opened. It is named Terminal One and has 395,000
square feet and 16 gates. The older terminal becomes Terminal Two. It is 210,000 square feet and
has twelve gates. The longer of its two main runways is 8,502 feet long.
1988 Union Pacific buys the Missouri Kansas Texas Railroad.
1996 September. Union Pacific "merges" with the Southern Pacific. San Antonio is now served
solely by the Union Pacific, which owns all lines in the city and surrounding area. Under the purchase
agreement, the Burlington Northern railroad acquires trackage rights through the city and is allowed
to serve San Antonio customers independently, an option it has yet to exercise.
1998 AMTRAK moves out of the historic Southern Pacific Depot. The station, owned by the
city, had fallen into severe disrepair. AMTRAK only needed a fraction of it's huge space, and was too
cash strapped to keep the station in good shape. The depot is leased by an entertainment consortium
owned by some of the city's biggest companies and entrepreneurs. A massive restoration project ensues.
(For more of this story, see the "San Antonio Depot History" section, at the Longhorn Chapter of the NRHS
section of this web site. (still to be completed. 7/12/02)
1999 The new, smaller, AMTRAK depot is opened.
2000 SA int'l airport has 12 carriers to 29 destination and 129 daily departures.
It handled just under 3,650,000 passengers with just under 250,000 take offs and landings.
Its various parking facilities hold over 6,000 cars.
Click here for a detailed history of •Civil Aviation In San Antonio•
Click here for a detailed history of •San Antonio railroad history timeline•
Click here for a detailed history of •San Antonio road transportation history•
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Site Established: June 13, 2002
copyright ©2001