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Home > Railroads and Trade Routes

  • Railroads and Trade Routes

    As growing transport infrastructure made way for commerce, expansion, and development across the country, railroads and toll roads possessed great power. Meet the magnates and gate-keepers who controlled the connection of people and goods across the land.

Table of Contents:

  • Johns Hopkins and the B & O Railroad
  • William Lowden: Express Rider and Wagon Road Entrepreneur
  • Nathan Bedford Forrest: Reconstruction of the Confederate Railroads
  • Early American Infrastructure and the Turnpike Road

  • Johns Hopkins and the B & O Railroad

    Map of the B&O railroad routes in the eastern US and a portrait of Johns Hopkins

    Founded in 1827, the B&O Railroad was the first railroad to transport the American public. President of the B&O Johns Hopkins was also known for making a $7 million donation to found a university and hospital, making it the largest philanthropic endowment in the country at the time.

    Read more about Johns Hopkins and the B & O Railroad

    Left Image: Map of the Baltimore & Ohio Railroad maps in the Eastern U.S., 1860; author A. Hoen & Co. courtesy Library of Congress [1]. Right Image: A portrait of Johns Hopkins in 1871; author Bendann Brothers, courtesy of the J. Paul Getty Trust via Wikimedia Commons [2].

  • William Lowden: Express Rider and Wagon Road Entrepreneur

    Portrait of William S. Lowden and logo for the Adams Express Company

    Setting record speeds with his 100-mile pony ride in just over five hours, Adam’s Express Rider William Lowden later turned entrepreneur and businessman. He went on to found an early wood-plank toll road that opened trade and commerce across Oregon.

    Read more about William Lowden: Express Rider and Wagon Road Entrepreneur

    Left Image: William S. Lowden, founder of the Weaverville & Shasta Wagon Road Company; courtesy of the California State Library [3]. Right Image: The logo of the Adams Express Company, the company William Lowden rode for; courtesy Wikimedia Commons [4].

  • Nathan Bedford Forrest: Reconstruction of the Confederate Railroads

    Map of railroad routes in the southeastern US and a portrait of Nathan Bedford Forrest

    As a defeated South focused on rebuilding efforts after the Civil War, controversial figures rose as planners and financiers of the Reconstruction. Alabama Governor William Hugh Smith and Ku Klux Klan founding member and leader of the 1864 Fort Pillow Massacre, Nathan Bedford Forrest, backed infrastructure companies such as the Selma, Marion and Memphis Railroad.

    Read more about Nathan Bedford Forrest: Reconstruction of the Confederate Railroads

    Left Image: Railroads in the Southeastern United States, 1861. Courtesy of the U.S. Military Academy West Point via Wikipedia [p.d.]. [5]. Right Image: Nathan Bedford Forrest, “Wizard of the Saddle” of the Confederate Army, 1865; courtesy of the Library of Congress via Wikimedia Commons [6].

  • Early American Infrastructure and the Turnpike Road

    A painting of one of a snowy tavern stop and an illustration of a ferry bridge both along the turnpike

    As a newly-formed nation desperately needed routes to facilitate trade and transport, the Philadelphia and Lancaster Turnpike Road became the first long-distance private turnpike constructed in the United States.

    Read more about Early American Infrastructure and the Turnpike Road

    Left Image: A painting of one of the stops along the Philadelphia and Lancaster Turnpike Road; courtesy Federal Highway Administration [7]. Right Image: The upper ferry bridge along the Philadelphia and Lancaster Turnpike Road; courtesy of Library of Congress via Wikimedia Commons [8].

Related Bonds

Certificate with black handwritten ink, a seal, and an intricate vignette showing a horse-drawn carriage near a gate and house behind lots of flora

Philadelphia and Lancaster Turnpike Company
Certificate with black and blue ink shows intricate borders and lettering, company seal, and vignettes with a farm town and train and woman

Cincinnati Railway Tunnel Company
This stock certificate (No. 20261) represents 20 shares valued at $100 each for the Baltimore and Ohio Railroad Company. Two vignettes in the top corners each feature a woman dressed in a white dress with a blanket draped over her knees. The left woman is sitting on a bushel of wheat and is holding a hand scythe, and the right woman is sitting on several barrels and boxes holding a rapier-looking rod. The center vignette depicts a train with five cars linked and a bridge and several buildings behind it. This certificate also shows the company’s corporate seal and two stamps denoting cancellation (see Translation field for more).

Baltimore and Ohio Railroad Company
Certificate with blue and black ink shows intricate bordering, lettering, Treasurer’s seal, and vignettes with a train, bridge, building and plow

State of Nevada Highway Bond
Certificate with black and green ink shows intricate bordering, lettering, a company seal, signatures and a vignette of men on horses with cattle

The International and Great Northern Railroad Company
Certificate with black ink shows intricate borders, lettering, signatures, and a vignette with a bulldog, horse-drawn carriage, harbor, and eagle

American Express Company
Certificate with blue and black ink shows intricate bordering, lettering, seals, signatures, and vignettes of a Roman god and men

The Providence Securities Company
Certificate with blue ink shows intricate borders, lettering, company seal, holes, and signatures and vignettes of a boat, eagle, bridge, and girl

13th & 15th Streets Passenger Railway Company
Certificate with black, green, orange and gold ink shows intricate bordering, lettering, a company seal, signatures, and vignettes of a train

Selma, Marion and Memphis Railroad Company
Certificate with black ink shows intricate bordering, lettering, a company seal, signatures, coupons with holes, and train on a bridge vignette

Virginia & Truckee Railroad Company
Certificate with black ink shows intricate lettering, a company seal, signatures, and a vignette of a horse-drawn wagon

Weaverville and Shasta Railroad Company

Related Stories

  • Queen of the Short Lines: The Virginia & Truckee Railroad Full Story

  • Embezzlement and the Nevada Highway Full Story

  • William M. Rice: Philanthropy, Murder, and the I&GN Railroad Full Story

  • Wells and Fargo Bring the American Express Company West Full Story

Sources

  1. Left Image: A. Hoen & Co. (1860). A map of the Baltimore & Ohio Railroad and its principal connecting lines uniting all parts of the East & West [Map]. Baltimore: Lith. by A. Hoen & Co. Public Domain from the Library of Congress. Retrieved from https://www.loc.gov/item/gm70002856/
  2. Right Image: Bendann Brothers. (1871). Portrait of Johns Hopkins [photograph]. Public Domain from the J. Paul Getty Trust via Wikimedia Commons. Retrieved from https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Hopkinsp.jpg
  3. Left Image: Wm. Spencer Lowden [photograph]. (n.d.). San Francisco: Elite. Public Domain from the California State Library. Retrieved from http://catalog.library.ca.gov/exlibris/aleph/a21_1/apache_media/G4BPU78ABX9P2897K674SL8LRQ525D.jpg
  4. Right Image: Adams Express Company logo [logo]. (n.d.). Public Domain from Wikimedia Commons. Retrieved from https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Adams_Express_Company_Logo.svg
  5. Left Image: U.S. Military Academy West Point. (1962). Map of the main railroads of the Confederacy 1861, showing gauges [map]. Public Domain from Wikipedia. Retrieved from https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Railroad_of_Confederacy-1861.jpg
  6. Right Image: Lt. Gen. Nathan Bedford Forrest, Confederate States Army [photograph]. (1865). Public Domain from the Library of Congress via Wikimedia Commons. Retrieved from https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Nathan_B._Forrest_-_LOCc.jpg
  7. Left Image: Rakeman, C. 1795. The Philadelphia and Lancaster Turnpike Road [painting]. Public Domain from the Federal Highway Administration. Retrieved from https://www.fhwa.dot.gov/rakeman/1795.htm
  8. Right Image: Plocher, J.J. (1813). The Upper Ferry Bridge over the River Schuylkill [engraving]. Public Domain from the Library of Congress Historic American Buildings Survey via Wikimedia Commons. Retrieved from https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Upper_Ferry_Bridge_(cropped).jpg
  9. Burd Family Papers. (n.d.). Finding Guide. Special Collections Department, University of Delaware Library. Retrieved from http://www.lib.udel.edu/ud/spec/findaids/burd1.htm
  10. Conner Prarie. (n.d.). Quote from Transportation and the Early Nation, pp. 33, reproduced in Transportation Developments in the Early Republic. Conner Prairie Educational Website. Retrieved from http://www.connerprairie.org/education-research/indiana-history-1800-1860/travel-and-transportation
  11. Ferris, B. (1883). Israel Whelen [illustration]. Public Domain from the Pennsylvania State Senate. Retrieved from http://www.legis.state.pa.us/cfdocs/legis/BiosHistory/MemBio.cfm?ID=5037&body=S
  12. Israel Whelen. (n.d.). In Pennsylvania State Senate, Historical Biographies. Retrieved from http://www.legis.state.pa.us/cfdocs/legis/BiosHistory/MemBio.cfm?ID=5037&body=S
  13. Klein, D.B., & Majewski, J. (2008). Turnpikes and toll roads in nineteenth-century America. In EH.net, Economic History Association. Retrieved from http://eh.net/encyclopedia/turnpikes-and-toll-roads-in-nineteenth-century-america/
  14. Peale, C.W. (1820). Edward Burd (1749–1833) [painting]. Public Domain from Christie’s via Wikimedia Commons. Retrieved from https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Edward_Burd,_by_Charles_Willson_Peale.jpg
  15. Philadelphia and Lancaster Turnpike Road [New Nation] historical marker. (n.d.). In ExplorePAhistory, Historical Markers. Retrieved from http://explorepahistory.com/hmarker.php?markerId=1-A-28D
  16. Steward, D. (1999). Biddle, Thomas (1790–1831). In Lawrence O. Christensen, William E. Foley, and Gary Kremer (Eds.), Dictionary of Missouri Biography (pp. 66–67). Columbia and London: University of Missouri Press. Retrieved from https://books.google.com/books?id=6gyxWHRLAWgC&lpg=PP1&pg=PR3#v=onepage&q&f=false
  17. Sully, T.W. (1832). Major Thomas Biddle [painting]. Public Domain from the National Gallery of Art, via Wikimedia Commons. Retrieved from https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Major_Thomas_Biddle_by_Thomas_Wilcocks_Sully_and_Thomas_Sully,_1832,_oil_on_canvas_-_National_Gallery_of_Art,_Washington_-_DSC09680.JPG  
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Story Themes

  • Art of the Bond
  • Backing the Republic of Texas
  • Bankrolling the Revolutionary and Civil Wars
  • Forging the Wild West
  • Nevada’s Promises and Perils
  • Railroads and Trade Routes
  • Scandals and Swindlers
  • Tycoons and Benefactors

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