A Missouri Railroad Pioneer: The Life of Louis Houck

Summary:

-Chapter 1 Wanderjahre

-Chapter 2 Volksblatt

-Chapter 3 The Belle of Cape Girardeau

-Chapter 4 To Cogitate and To Dream: The Coming of the Railroad

-Chapter 5 The Houck Roads

-Chapter 6 Zwei Meinungen: Of Two Minds


The story of Louis Houck is one that truly embodies the American Dream. His father, an immigrant, and mother of modest means that instill in him the meaning of hard work and determination. Houck sought out his own education through apprenticeship because he realized the importance of being educated. His interest was sparked at a young age to study and eventually practice law. Houck's experience practicing law in St. Louis however was unsatisfactory to say the least. He saw it as "a well-financed Republican good-old-boy network" and decided to remove himself to more friendly environs in Cape Girardeau. It was during his practice of law in Southeast Missouri that he traveled hundreds of miles through the region. He realized from this the need for the expansion of the railroad systems in the region. Construction began in 1880 and by the end of that year an "unremarkable fifteen miles of track" had been laid between Cape Girardeau and Delta, but this would be the launching of what Rhodes would call a "remarkable career in railroading." Along his road to success he would lock horns with other railroad barons such as Jay Gould but would come out relatively unscathed. As his railroads were expanding throughout the region, Houck may not have been considered a Carnegie or a Rockefeller, but he was always looking to expand. Expand he would, at the turn of the century and we will see more in ensuing chapters of A Missouri Railroad Pioneer: The Life of Louis Houck.

Below, I've included some pictures of the railroads in Ste. Genevieve County that were part of the Frisco Lines. These railroads were the main form of transportation for the limestone, the major product of the county, that was mined in many locations across the county. Last two pictures are of a quarry and kiln.


The railroad depot in Weingarten. Missouri.




The depot in Ste. Genevieve.


The depot in Brickey's Landing along the Mississippi River.





This is what the lime kiln in Ste. Gen looks like today.