HOUSTON Texas
The Houston & Southern Railroad Co.
1870s Scrip Stock
Remainder Crisp Uncirculated with toning
~ 10 3/4 X 7 1/2 inches
Railroad finance in Reconstruction-era Texas relied heavily on installment-based scrip stock, a mechanism that allowed investors to buy into ambitious rail projects without paying the full share price upfront. The Houston & Great Northern Railroad, chartered to push northward from Houston into emerging markets, issued these certificates through its New York registry at 26 Exchange Place — a reminder that Eastern capital fueled much of Texas’s early rail expansion. In 1873, the line merged with the International Railroad to form the International & Great Northern, later absorbed into Missouri Pacific. Surviving pre-merger scrip pieces are scarce, and the clean, unused format offers strong visual appeal for collectors of early Texas rail history.
Original 1870s scrip receipt form for installment payments on Houston & Great Northern Railroad stock is included.
Texas railroad scripophily!
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