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The art prints below are of the historic railroad depot located on State Highway 6 in Hearne. These limited edition prints are available for sale at winsan@tca.net.
Founded in the mid-1800’s, Hearne was once a bustling center of farming and railroad commerce. The location in south-central Texas - which is equidistant from Houston, Dallas, San Antonio, and the Louisiana border - contributed much to the early growth and prosperity. The early citizens of Hearne realized the potential and began an enterprise to lay their own rail lines to the local farming areas. This original company was the Hearne & Brazos Valley Railroad.
Through the massive expansion of railroads in the late 19th century, these local tracks were eventually connected to the ever growing network of large company lines. The Hearne & Brazos Valley Railroad was purchased by the H. & T. C. Railroad which later became the Southern Pacific and the Missouri Pacific Railroads.
The depot, replacing an earlier structure, was built in 1900 at the intersection of the north/south and east/west rail lines. A diner was built adjacent to the depot for the passengers. Over the next 50 years hundreds of thousands of people passed through this old depot on their journeys around the United States and the world. At the outbreak of World War II, this depot witnessed the passage of many servicemen as they traveled to report for duty.
In 1943, construction was completed on Camp Hearne, an 800 acre prisoner of war camp just three miles west of town. The first shipment of prisoners were members of Rommell’s Afrika Korps. Thousands more Germans and Japanese arrived over the next three years. The Camp was closed in 1946, and the railroad industry itself began a gradual decline. The depot was closed in mid-1950. The covered boarding platform and the diner were demolished many years before. The main depot building still stands and commands the attention of anyone who has ever traveled on State Highway 6 through Hearne.
The
prints are by Winston Sanders, a Texas artist and Hearne native, who utilized a circa 1915
photograph of the depot for details of the original structure. The original of
these prints was rendered in pen and ink with a sepia wash, creating the look of
an old photograph. Printed on quality art paper, all the details of the original
depot are faithfully reproduced.
