{"nrhp_refnum":"09000980","name":"Allen Water Station","other_names":["H&amp","TC Railway Water Station"],"category":"district","location":{"address":"N. of Exchange Pkwy on Cottonwood Creek","address_restricted":false,"city":"Allen","county":"Collin County","state":"TX","lat":33.11844952200005,"lon":-96.66578241899998,"geom_source":"nps_gis"},"listed_date":"2009-12-03","is_nhl":false,"nhl_designated_date":null,"areas_of_significance":["Transportation","Exploration/Settlement"],"significance_levels":["local"],"summary":{"what_it_is":"A district in Allen, Collin County, Texas, containing an 1874 stone dam, railroad bed and tracks, a 1910 steel railroad bridge, and the ruins of a water tank and pumping facility. It was built by the Houston & Texas Central Railway to supply water to steam locomotives.","why_significant":"The district preserves the structures and archaeological remains of a late 19th century railroad water station on the Houston & Texas Central line between Dallas and Denison. It is described as a major water stop on that 70-mile stretch, built before the town of Allen was platted. The site retains enough remains to show the original layout and use, and the nomination treats it as locally significant.","narrative":"Allen Water Station is a small railroad heritage district along Cottonwood Creek in Allen, Texas, now part of the city park system. The Houston & Texas Central Railway began the station in 1874 to refill steam locomotives on its line between Dallas and Denison. The most visible feature is a stone overfall dam, about 69 feet long in its central section, which created the water supply. Nearby are twelve stone piers that once supported a circular wooden water tank, the brick and concrete remains of a pumping facility, the railroad bed, and a steel plate girder bridge dated 1910. Southern Pacific expanded the system around 1912 with a larger concrete dam downstream, which was later breached and demolished, allowing the older stone dam to function again. The station was built at a remote spot before the town of Allen was platted in 1876. The surviving ruins and archaeological remains preserve evidence of how a rural railroad water station was arranged and operated.","period_of_significance":null,"architect_builder":"Houston & Texas Central Railway Company (original construction, 1874); Southern Pacific Railroad (later expansion, about 1912); American Bridge Company of New York (1910 bridge)","architectural_style":"Other: dam, bridge","criteria":[],"status_note":"Open to the public as a local heritage park within the city park system; the 1912 dam has been demolished and the water tank and pumping facility survive only as ruins.","vacant_flag":null,"machine_generated":true,"model":"claude-sonnet-5-5","prompt_version":"v1.0-2026-10-29","generated_at":"2026-10-29 02:54:23.733904-05","source_pdf":"https://s3.amazonaws.com/NARAprodstorage/opastorage/live/30/9715/40971530/content/electronic-records/rg-079/NPS_TX/09000980.pdf"},"photo":{"url_800":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/media/09000980/c7e7ada30c-800.webp","url_1600":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/media/09000980/c7e7ada30c-1600.webp","licence":"CC BY-SA 3.0","author":"MeekMark","credit_html":"<a href=\"https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Allen,_Texas_Train_Water_Station.JPG\" rel=\"noopener\">MeekMark</a>, <a href=\"https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/3.0\" rel=\"license noopener\">CC BY-SA 3.0</a>, via Wikimedia Commons","source_page":"https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Allen,_Texas_Train_Water_Station.JPG"},"district":null,"sources":{"nps_snapshot_date":"2026-05-22","nara_catalog":"https://catalog.archives.gov/id/40971530","wikipedia":"https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Allen_Water_Station","wikidata":"https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q4731936"},"indexable":true,"url":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/texas/collin-county/allen-water-station-09000980/"}