Although plans for a rail line were made as early as 1852, railroad tracks were not laid in this area until after the end of the Civil War. Overton (14 mi. NW) became the center of Rusk County Railroading after the international & great northern line came through in the 1870s. The Henderson-Overton branch railroad was completed in 1877. Several small lines were begun in the county during the early 1900s but were abandoned by the end of the 1920s. Passenger service declined throughout Texas after World War II, but rail freight continues to be an important business in Rusk County. Texas Sesquicentennial 1836-1986