Ep. 65: Welcome to Progress City! (It’s around here somewhere…)
Wise About Texas
Ken Wise
4.9 • 1.1K Ratings
🗓️ 27 February 2019
⏱️ 16 minutes
🧾️ Download transcript
Summary
The late 19th century saw Texas industry expanding west. The railroads were laid and towns were springing up everywhere. That quintessential Texas opportunity was knocking once again. One railroad entrepreneur gave one aspiring town builder the idea to layout a new town near the Big Bend called…what else…Progress City. He surveyed, he platted, and he sold. He sold thousands of lots. Deeds were filed and taxes were charged and paid. The problem was…it never existed. Hear the story of Progress City in the latest episode of Wise About Texas.
Transcript
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| 0:00.0 | Howdy and welcome to Wise About Texas, the Texas History Podcast. I'm your host Ken Wise. I want to thank you for |
| 0:14.8 | tuning in today for a little bit of Texas history. I want to especially |
| 0:19.7 | recognize my international audience today. This podcast is being heard in 106 countries around the world. |
| 0:27.0 | I never would have imagined. |
| 0:29.0 | But I'm glad y'all are interested in Texas history. I appreciate you you I hope some of our international |
| 0:33.8 | listeners will send your questions and episode ideas to host at wise about |
| 0:38.4 | Texas.com I'd love to hear from you well today we're going to talk about a lovely little town |
| 0:44.3 | called Progress City. Now who wouldn't want to live in a place called Progress City? |
| 0:49.2 | One can only imagine the promise and prosperity of such a place. |
| 0:54.6 | No doubt it would spring up alongside that great symbol of American progress of the railroad. |
| 1:01.4 | It would no doubt lie in the most prosperous of fertile farming ground, perhaps |
| 1:06.2 | well watered by clean spring water and dried gently by a beautiful sun. |
| 1:12.0 | Well people would obviously line up to buy lots in such a town. |
| 1:18.1 | There was just one problem. |
| 1:20.8 | It didn't exist. When we think about travel in Texas, you have got to start with trains. |
| 1:31.0 | Trains change this state they changed America of course but they |
| 1:35.8 | really allowed Texas to expand prior to trains we had wagons taking goods from as far west and as far into the interiors they could, |
| 1:48.5 | to the nearest navigable river that ran to the coast or to the actual coast itself and that's why you know Texas |
| 1:55.9 | was so blessed when the early settlers discovered all the navigable north to |
| 2:00.3 | south rivers they could use. |
| 2:02.7 | But with trains, it still went to the coast, |
| 2:06.1 | but much faster and in greater and more reliable quantities, |
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