Elgin was established in 1872 on the Houston and Texas Central Railroad as a one square mile area around the H&TC Depot and was named for Robert Morris Elgin, the railroad’s land commissioner. In 1879 Elgin was described as a “thriving depot town” of 400 with a newspaper, a gin, and a gristmill. Today, Elgin has a population of 10,598, and is a thriving community with a newspaper, multiple major employers producing bricks, sausage and more, and is experiencing significant residential and commercial growth.