Abilene, Taylor County
Welsh-born Morgan Jones arrived in the U.S. in 1866. As a contractor for numerous railroad lines, he became a railroad legend by laying tracks spanning more than 1,000 miles across Texas and the West. He was president of the Fort Worth and Denver City Railway Company by 1884, and in 1906 began to construct the Abilene and Northern Railway. In 1908 Jones moved to Abilene, continuing railroad expansion by completing the Abilene and Southern Railway. He made extensive investments throughout Texas and contributed to Abilene's growth until his death. (1998)