In the late 1870’s a sleepy, little country town called Brewer Prairie became talk of the country, when in 1905 the Trinity & Brazos Valley railway announced there would be a new railway line between Fort Worth and Houston, and Brewer Prairie would be the division point halfway between those two cities. There would be a round house, railroad shops, and a new depot. Railroad Tycoon Benjamin F. Yoakum acquired 600 acres for a new townsite, and decided to change the name of the town from Brewer to Teague, which was his mother’s family name.

In early 1906, the first train pulled into Teague. By August of that year, a huge auction for the sale of city lots was held. It was described by a reporter of The Teague Chronicle as “a howling success”. Said the reporter, “By the grace of the All Wise Creator of the Universe, the day before the great gathering a gentle and steady downpour of rain came, tampering old Mother Earth as she should be, and fixing the sand so we could walk on it. An excursion train of eight coaches arrived, the band played “Dixie” and the air seemed to reverberate with genuine joy. Five thousand pounds of beef and goat were barbecued and served. The people came, they saw, they bought lots.” The reporter described this event as Teague’s jubilee and added “we have talked of this auspicious occasion these many days and lot it came at last, only to be heralded in history a grand and glorious record such as has never before been written in the history of Freestone County.”

By 1907 Teague was transformed. Dozens of brick buildings were under construction and the population soared. The new Trinity & Brazos Valley Railway passenger depot and office building was completed in early 1907. The original cost was $20,000. It included a rotunda, ticket office, three waiting rooms, a baggage room, a dining room, and kitchen, as well s many offices. It was in continuous use as a depot and office until 1968. This building is currently the Teague B'-Ri Railroad Museum. In 1979, the depot was added to the National Register of Historic Places by the Texas Historical Commission and the United States department of the Interior.

Today the depot houses a significant number of artifacts from the T&BV Railroad, including tools, pictorial history and original blueprints of the T&BV line spanning from Fort Worth to Houston. Also, there are collections of pictures, and items from later railroad history of the Rock Island Railroad and the Burlington Railroad. In addition to the historical building and railroad artifacts, the museum houses treasures from early Teague, a Civil War era Log Cabin, a 1926 Seagraves Fire Engine. This museum is a real treasure trove for the railroad enthusiast and for those who love history.

Want to know more about the history of the Burlington-Rock Island Railroad? Reach out to us below or come take a look for yourself, open every Saturday from 10a-2p and Sundays from 1p-4p!