The Southwestern Historical Quarterly, Volume 73, July 1969 - April, 1970 Page: 507
605 p. : ill. (some col.), maps, ports. ; 23 cm.View a full description of this periodical.
Extracted Text
The following text was automatically extracted from the image on this page using optical character recognition software:
Revolutionizing the Texas Cotton Trade, 1865-1885
only to Denison." This was an extraordinary advantage in competing
against Houston and Galveston for trade that would have been ex-
pected, on a basis of distance, to be tributary to them. Even the rail-
roads that the island and bayou towns' promoters built to tap the
wealth of the hinterland fell victim to the local capitalists' inability
to sustain them in the highly competitive struggle for the freight of
the state.
Cotton offered virtually the only opportunity for a major economic
breakthrough in nineteenth century Texas, and it was by control of
this commodity that some degree of financial independence from out-
of-state sources could be realized by the local entrepreneurs. It was
not essentially lack of vision or aggressiveness on the part of Gal-
veston and Houston merchants that this attempt failed and the ex-
pected growth of these towns did not take place during this period,
but rather the enormous economic superiority of eastern and northern
competitors aided by rail links to the Texas interior that gave these
"outsiders" virtual control of the trade of Texas."4
Galveston and Houston were simply distributive and export points,
small both in population and wealth, competing with large and
wealthy cities of the North and East that were both great manufac-
turing as well as major distributive centers. Exports of cotton from
the Texas coast amounted to tens of millions of dollars annually, but
this wealth neither belonged to nor was left at Houston or Galveston.
Money from the sale of cotton to eastern and European markets and
mills flowed into the interior of Texas to be used to secure goods and
supplies from, or to pay back loans owned to northern, eastern, and
foreign sources.
Despite the growth of the state's population from 604,215 in 186o
to 1,591,749 in 188o, and the expansion of cotton production from
431,463 bales worth $23,730,465 in the former year to 805,284 bales
valued at $48,397,568 in the latter year, no town in Texas had a popula-
tion in excess of 23,000 during this period. Twenty years later, in 1900-
"Dallas Freight Bureau et al. v. The Austin & Northwestern Railroad Company et al.,
9 I.C.C. 73, 76; Dallas Freight Bureau v. Missouri, Kansas & Texas Railway Company
et al., 12 I.C.C. 428-430.
"In Kenneth Wheeler, To Wear a City's Crown (Cambridge, Mass., 1968), 16o-165, the
author seems not to have understood the complexities of economic development in the
state, and makes some highly superficial observations about Galveston. The present writer
does not deny that the Wharf Company may have hindered commerce in the crucial
years following the Civil War, but maintains that this was not the essential element
impeding commerce in the Galveston-Houston area.507
Upcoming Pages
Here’s what’s next.
Search Inside
This issue can be searched. Note: Results may vary based on the legibility of text within the document.
Tools / Downloads
Get a copy of this page or view the extracted text.
Citing and Sharing
Basic information for referencing this web page. We also provide extended guidance on usage rights, references, copying or embedding.
Reference the current page of this Periodical.
Texas State Historical Association. The Southwestern Historical Quarterly, Volume 73, July 1969 - April, 1970, periodical, 1970; Austin, Texas. (https://texashistory.unt.edu/ark:/67531/metapth117147/m1/553/: accessed April 26, 2024), University of North Texas Libraries, The Portal to Texas History, https://texashistory.unt.edu; crediting Texas State Historical Association.