Cattle drives to barbed wire: What Texas looked like during the Gilded Age

Mark Twain forever immortalized the post-Civil War era with his novel The Gilded Age: A Tale of Today . Over 150 years later and the term Gilded Age still draws imagery of enormous wealth and extreme poverty in the U.S., but it also happened to coincide with the Old West.

Season four of HBO's TV series The Gilded Age premiered on November 1, transporting viewers back to this fascinating period in American history. Consequently, it got us wondering what Texas looked like during the Gilded Age. Here's a quick rundown.

Officially the Gilded Age is the period from 1870 into the late 1890s. During this time, Texas' population ballooned from 81,859 in 1870 to 2.23 million by 1890, according to the Texas State Library . Galveston was Texas' largest city during the Gilded Age, growing from 13,000 residents in 1870 to more than 29,000 by 1890. Decades before the Houston Ship Channel would open, Galveston benefited from the ships importing business and immigrants to further feed Texas' population boom. Before the Hurricane of 1900, Galveston was the place to be in the Lone Star State.

Elsewhere, San Antonio grew from more than 12,000 residents in 1870 to 37,000 by 1890; Houston went from 9,000 residents to 27,000 and Austin climbed from 4,000 residents to over 14,000, according to the Texas Almanac.

In San Antonio, the Pearl and the original Lone Star Brewery both began operations during this period. Also in 1891, the very first Fiesta celebrations were held .

The Gilded Age was when Fort Worth became incorporated as a city, going from 500 residents in 1870 to more than 23,000 in 1890 as Cowtown boomed with cattle drives marching their herds up to the city and on to Kansas. No such herds were more famous than those from the King Ranch , which reportedly sent over 100,000 cattle on the trails during the Gilded Age.

The Reconstruction era saw George T. Ruby and Matthew Gaines become the first Black Texans to serve in the Texas Senate, being sworn in on April 26, 1870. However the end of Reconstruction in 1877 saw Blacks and Hispanics saw their economic opportunities racially divided as many ended up stuck working as sharecroppers.

Texas A&M University, then known as State Agricultural and Mechanical College of Texas, was founded in 1876, while the University of Texas followed in 1883. Other major events include the introduction of barbed wire in 1874, Quanah Parker's surrender in 1875, the adoption of the present Texas Constitution in 1876, the completion of the Texas Capitol in 1888 and the establishment of the Texas Railroad Commission in 1891.

In fact, the railroad expansion exploded in Texas during the Gilded Age with Authentic Texas noting, "But by 1870, railroad construction was about to take off and span the entire state. What made Texas different from other states was the sheer size and vast distance between populated areas. Railroad construction required enormous investment and was largely based on speculation that more population would follow along the new lines."

Famous individuals from this era include Richard King, founder of the King Ranch, the "King of Ragtime" Scott Joplin, U.S. Marshal Bass Reeves and famed rancher Charles Goodnight.

Overall Texas looked very different than the Northeastern states of the Gilded Age, but places like the Seaquist House in Mason Country represent examples of Gilded Age architecture that folks can experience today.

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This article originally published at Cattle drives to barbed wire: What Texas looked like during the Gilded Age .