Uriah Lott

The San Antonio and Aransas Pass Railway was an early South Texas railroad. Uriah Lott organized the SA&AP in 1884 with its general offices in San Antonio and its operational center later based in Yoakum. On April 8, 1925, the SA&AP was leased to the Southern Pacific controlled Galveston, Harrisburg & San Antonio Railway, and both were later absorbed into the Southern Pacific system.

The name was derived from its first line that was built from San Antonio with the intention of reaching Aransas Pass (the waterway, the City did not exist at the time). However, construction of the main line turned south at Gregory to enter Corpus Christi. A branch was later built from Gregory to Rockport. Additional mains were built from Kenedy to Houston and from Yoakum to Waco. Branches were built from San Antonio to Kerrville, from Skidmore to Falfurrias, and from near Shiner to Lockhart. The GH&SA later extended the Falfurrias branch to Brownsville under the original SA&AP charter.

Two segments of the SA&AP later became important parts of the SP system. The Giddings to Flatonia line became part of the Dalsa (Dallas-San Antonio) Cutoff. The Beeville to Skidmore line (now abandoned) was the first SP line in Texas to be controlled by Centralized Traffic Control (CTC).