HOUSTON AND AUSTIN TURNPIKE COMPANY. The Houston and Austin Turnpike Company was chartered by the Congress of the Republic of Texasqv on January 15, 1841, to lay out a road from Austin to Houston. Capital stock of $125,000 was to be divided into 625 shares, with the seven directors to own at least five shares each. Tolls were allowed on condition that the toll gates be at least forty miles apart. The work was to start within twelve months and be completed in five years. The road was to start at Houston, to cross the Brazos River within five miles of San Felipe de Austin, and to continue from the river on the most practical route to Austin. This initial turnpike company was followed by the chartering of some fifty such companies between 1841 and 1905.
BIBLIOGRAPHY: Robert B. Bristow, Internal Improvements in Texas, 1836-1845 (M.A. thesis, University of Texas, 1936). Hans Peter Nielsen Gammel, comp., Laws of Texas, 1822-1897 (10 vols., Austin: Gammel, 1898).
