
Section House, 1880s

Built in Carrollton, Texas, during the 1880s, this two-room building was a typical dwelling for
a
railroad section crew. The railroad companies divided the tracks into sections between 10
and 30
miles long and assigned a foreman and crew to tend each section. The compound
included a
four-room house for the foreman and his family, one or more two-room bunk houses for the crew,
and a well or cistern. A toll house stood near the tracks.
Because many Tejanos moved to North
Texas to work on the railroads, this house is interpreted as the home of
Ramón and Antonia de León.
The de León's
have recently moved to Dallas from South Texas.
 |