At Alleyton, Rail Cars Became Cotton Wagons

Alleyton began as an early Colorado County settlement. The Alley family built it, and the family belonged to Stephen F. Austin's original colony. From 1860 to 1867, the town stood at the end of the Buffalo Bayou, Brazos and Colorado Railroad.

During the Civil War, the railhead became a cotton station and a Confederate supply depot. Cotton arrived from northern and eastern Texas, Louisiana, and Arkansas. Some came by train and some by wagon. Workers then carried the bales to the Colorado River across from Columbus and ferried them over.

Large wagons and high-wheeled Mexican carts hauled the cotton to Brownsville by way of Goliad and San Patricio. At Brownsville, the cotton crossed the Rio Grande to Matamoros. Ships could leave there for Europe beyond the federal naval blockade.

The road also carried goods north. Wagons returned with weapons, clothing, medicine, and other supplies, and Alleyton became an important unloading point. Cotton lint snagged on brush and cactus along the road, leaving a pale trace of the traffic between rail, river, wagon, and ship.