What is now the Texas State Railroad State Historical Park originated as an industrial railroad serving the iron foundry operated by the Texas prison system on the penitentiary grounds near Rusk. In 1896 the first five miles of track was built west from North Rusk to haul wood and iron ore to the smelter known as the "Old Alcalde" that had been built by the State in 1884. In 1903 the prison smelter was expanded and the railroad was extended five miles to the community of Maydelle. Governor Thomas M. Campbell conceived the idea that it would be profitable for the railroad to become a common carrier, and on April 5, 1907, the legislature approved his request to operate the railroad as a common carrier and to extend the line from Maydelle to Palestine. Although the railroad was never chartered, it was officially named the Texas State Railroad. When opened it was controlled by the governor and the Prison Commission of the state of Texas. Convict labor was used to build the extension to Palestine just as it had been used to build the earlier sections between Rusk and Maydelle.

(Amy Richards, “Texas State Railroad,” Handbook of Texas Online, accessed February 19, 2024, https://www.tshaonline.org/handbook/entries/texas-state-railroad.)