End of the Line Station

The original charter for a rail line through the Orange area was granted to the Sabine and Galveston Railroad and Lumber Company in 1856. About the same time the New Orleans, Opelousas and Great Western Railroad Company was building a line west from the Mississippi River. The Louisiana Legislature later endorsed a plan to join Texas in the completion of the trade route between the states. The two companies were reorganized as separate divisions of the Texas and New Orleans Railroad. The Texas division completed construction to this site before the Civil War. Since the rail line stopped at the Sabine River, the first depot in Orange was known as the End of the Line Station. Trains unloaded cargo here for transfer to riverboats and ocean freighters. Sections of the line remained in operation during the Civil War, but nearby rails were used to build Confederate fortifications at Sabine Pass (34 mi. SW). The interstate route was completed in 1881 under the direction of Charles Morgan, a steamship line owner. The first station, damaged by an 1885 storm, was replaced by a larger facility with river loading docks. The Southern Pacific Railroad later took over the T. & N. O. Line.

End of the Line Station is a historical marker in Orange, Orange County, dedicated in 1981. It is one of 66 historical markers documented in Orange County in the Texas Historical Commission Atlas, among 91 historic sites cataloged across the county.

The site sits at 30.0910, -93.7310 near Orange. The nearest cataloged historic site is Atakapan Indians of Orange County (historical marker), about under a tenth of a mile away. Others within a short drive include John Harmon, Niblett's Bluff, and Dr. William Hewson and Dr. David Caldwell Hewson.

This record corresponds to Texas Historical Commission Atlas #5361011478. Use the map below for its exact position and turn-by-turn directions.