Date: October 27, 1891

On this day, the Pan American Railway was chartered by a group of Boston investors to connect Victoria, Texas, with Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. The residents of Victoria, anxious to have an independent rail outlet to compete with the Southern Pacific-controlled lines radiating from the city, offered a $150,000 bonus to the company. By August 1892 the line had been completed from Victoria to the Guadalupe River, a distance of ten miles, but funds were not available to bridge the river. Victoria refused to pay any installment on the bonus until additional mileage had been constructed. No regular trains were ever operated on the Pan American, and the track was soon abandoned.