An abandoned cabin interlocker now occupies the site of Tower 61 in Jefferson.
Jefferson was one of the earliest railroad towns in Texas, a natural extension of its role as a navigable port. Prior to the Civil War, the Memphis, El Paso and Pacific Railroad was chartered and did some construction in the Jefferson area. After the war, the remaining assets of this line were eventually acquired by the Texas & Pacific Railway which built from Texarkana through Jefferson to Marshall in 1873.
About that same time, the East Line and Red River Railroad was chartered as a narrow gauge railroad by Jefferson business interests to build to the Red River via Sherman. Construction began at Jefferson in 1876 and was completed to Greenville in 1880. The EL&RR became a property of the Katy railroad in 1881, but a court proceeding challenged the legality of the transaction and the line was forfeited and placed in receivership. While in receivership in 1892, the line was converted to standard gauge and sold to the Sherman, Shreveport and Southern Railway, a company organized for the purpose of acquiring the EL&RR assets. The SSSRy extended the line 30 miles eastward to Waskom in 1900. In 1901, the Katy Railroad acquired the SSSRy, resuming the ownership that had been attempted 20 years earlier.
In 1905, Tower 61 was formally established at the junction of the Katy and the T&P lines not far from downtown Jefferson. In 1923, as a result of a reorganization of the Katy Railroad, its line through Jefferson was sold to the Louisiana Railroad and Navigation Co. which named the railroad the Louisiana, Arkansas & Texas Railway. In 1929, the Louisiana and Arkansas Railroad acquired the LA&T. The L&A was later merged into the Kansas City Southern Railroad which continues to operate the line. The ex-T&P line is now operated by Union Pacific. As the junction of two main lines, the site of Tower 61 continues to see significant rail traffic every day.
Text and photos by Jim King.
Map by Jim King.
