131. [MAP]. TEXAS & PACIFIC RAILWAY COMPANY. Nolan County. Lithographed by August Gast & Co. [in circle at left] Land Dept. Texas & Pacific Railway Company Marshall Texas... [top right below scale] Unsold Lands of the Texas & Pacific Railway Company are colored yellow... St. Louis: August Gast & Co. for Texas & Pacific Railway Company, n.d. [ca. 1881]. Lithograph map on laid paper, unsold lots in original yellow, overall sheet size: 57 x 45.5 cm. Creased where formerly folded, one small spot below title, minor snag at top blank margin, a bit of light dust-soiling to blank margins (more noticeable on verso), overall very good, with a few of the yellow lots marked in red ink “B”.

             This is among the very earliest maps of Nolan County, adapted from the first official printed map, which was also done by lithographer Gast for the General Land Office in 1880. As was typical, railroads were often paid for their expenses with land grants, such as the one shown here. The T&P Railroad enjoyed a federal charter, which gave it certain rights and obligations to prefer federal service over more local needs. It was intended that this railroad would extend to California and form part of the transcontinental system.

            Nolan County in central West Texas was named for Anglo adventurer Philip Nolan, and Sweetwater is its county seat. When it was created in 1876, its only inhabitants were hunters destroying the buffalo and cattlemen running their herds on the open range. When the county was organized in 1881, the first building the commissioners built was the jail. ($400-$800)

Auction 21 Abstracts