History of the Section House


Built in Carrollton, Texas, during the 1880s, this two-room building was a typical dwelling for a railroad section crew. The railroad companies divided the tracks into sections between 10 and 30 miles long and assigned a foreman and crew to tend each section. The compound included a four-room house for the foreman and his family, one or more two-room bunk houses for the crew, and a well or cistern. A toll house stood near the tracks.


Because many Tejanos moved to North Texas to work on the railroads, this house is interpreted as the home of Ramón and Antonia de León. The de León's have recently moved to Dallas from South Texas.