Editing Groesbeck, Texas (section)

=== Early days ===

The [[Houston & Texas Central Railway|Houston & Texas Central Railway Company]] extended from Houston to Groesbeck by the end of 1870.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://tshaonline.org/handbook/online/articles/hgg06 |title=GROESBECK, TX &#124; The Handbook of Texas Online&#124; Texas State Historical Association (TSHA) |publisher=Tshaonline.org |access-date=2020-01-17}}</ref> Groesbeck was incorporated in April 1871 and by the end of 1872 Groesbeck had rail connections to [[Waco, Texas|Waco]] and [[Dallas, Texas|Dallas]], and trains on the way from [[St. Louis]] to Houston began passing through in 1880.<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://txrrhistory.com/towers/021/021.htm|title=Texas Railroad History - Towers 8, 21 and 144 - East Waco|website=txrrhistory.com}}</ref> Springfield was bypassed by the railroad and the courthouse burned down in 1873, so Groesbeck was made county seat in 1874. Railroads in the late 19th century were a booming industry.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.loc.gov/classroom-materials/united-states-history-primary-source-timeline/rise-of-industrial-america-1876-1900/railroads-in-late-19th-century/|title=Railroads in the Late 19th Century &#124; Rise of Industrial America, 1876-1900 &#124; U.S. History Primary Source Timeline &#124; Classroom Materials at the Library of Congress &#124; Library of Congress|website=Library of Congress, Washington, D.C. 20540 USA}}</ref> The end of reconstruction and the advent of [[History of rail transportation in the United States|the railroad]] began an era of growth for the county. The population in Limestone County was 9,000 in 1870, and 32,000 in 1900. Groesbeck itself grew from 663 to 1,462 between 1890 and 1900.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://books.google.com/books?hl=en&lr=&id=j0k4AQAAMAAJ&oi=fnd&pg=PA447&dq=%22springfield%22+texas+fire+history&ots=vhnqif1jNe&sig=TqT8IG2tyMk2cKSnhq_DKDFUq24#v=onepage&q=Springfield&f=false|title=A History of Central and Western Texas|date=April 14, 1911|publisher=Lewis Publishing Company|via=Google Books}}</ref>