The first rail line reached this area in 1881 and town lots were sold that year for Hondo City. The line was built by the Galveston, Harrisburg and San Antonio Railway. It connected with the Southern Pacific System building east from California. The railroad was vital to the early growth of Hondo, but rail traffic began to decline in the 1940s. The last passenger train, pulled by engine No. 6, left the Hondo Station on June 8, 1958. The Southern Pacific Depot was moved to the present location in 1970 from the original site, seventeen blocks east. 1980