Government Street -- Loop Area

These photographs show the shared M&BS - MJ&KC Government Street Station, located at the Loop, as it appeared in 1915.

The photo at left shows the M&BS mainline curving southward in the lower left corner, with the NOM&C mainline behind the station. The dog is standing in the middle of Government Street Road.

The photo at right is looking northward back toward Tacon, with the M&BS tracks in a direct line of sight with the station.

According to internal M&O documents, the station was jointly owned by the NOM&C and the M&O in a 50-50 partnership. The archetecture of the station appears to be influenced by both railroads, with a bit more flavor from the NOM&C. It is possible the station was constructed by the NOM&C, but 50% financed by the M&O; however there is no substance to this idea.

After the abandonment of the M&BS as a mainline to Bayou la Batre, this location became the connection point for access to the Chrome processing plant at Farnell. For many years there was a raised strip of asphalt where the tracks crossed Government St. Today, even that small bit of evidence is gone, leveled to the remaining pavement in a major road rebuilding project in the late '70s or early '80s.

Some of the roadbed can still be seen in the neighborhoods between Holcombe Ave. and Government Street east of Eslava Creek.

The map at right shows the general arrangement of the structures with the railroad and the highways as they existed in 1915. The roads are not paved, but are hard-packed earth. Compare this map with the two photographs above. The roadway shown here as Government Street Road is present-day Airport Blvd. The automobile parked in front of the station is actually parked at the edge of the road. The shed, seen on the left side of both images, is parallel with the road; the station itself is at an angle.

The thin line just above the station, marked as being the NOM&C, is the present-day Illinois Central railroad. These tracks are the ones seen today, and are also marked in the topo map fragment seen at left.