Description: $1,000 7% Bond w/ 30+ coupons remaining. Imprinted Revenues! The Florida Railroad was the first railroad to connect the east & west coasts of Florida, running from Fernandina to Cedar Key. The line later became part of the Seaboard Air Line Railroad, &, where still in use, is operated by CSX Transportation & the First Coast Railroad. The highway corridor of SR 24, US 301, & SR A1A/SR 200 closely parallels the former Florida Railroad. The shipping route between the east coast & gulf coast of the United States passes through the Straits of Florida, close to the Florida Reef that lies just off the Florida Keys. Prior to the 20th century many ships were wrecked around the southern end of the Florida peninsula. A railroad across the northern end of the Florida peninsula would allow cargoes from ships in the Gulf of Mexico to be transferred to ships in the Atlantic Ocean, & vice versa, w/out the risk of passage through the Straits of Florida, while cutting 800 miles off the trip. In 1842 the United States Congress commissioned a survey of a route for a railroad between the St. Mary's River & Cedar Key in the Territory of Florida. In 1853 the Florida Legislature chartered the Florida Railroad to build a 5ft (1,524mm) gauge rail line from Fernandina (near the mouth of the St. Mary's River) to Tampa, Florida, w/ a branch to Cedar Key. The president & chief stockholder of the Florida Railroad was U.S. Senator David Levy Yulee. Yulee decided to complete the line to Cedar Key first, leaving the connection to Tampa for later. Construction started in Fernandina in 1855. By 1858 the rail line was open between Fernandina & Starke, but the Panic of 1857 had left the railroad on the edge of bankruptcy. Yulee had to surrender a majority interest in the railroad to a northern investment syndicate headed by Edward Dickerson to save the company. The line was completed to Gainesville in 1859 & Cedar Key in 1861. Other towns served by the railroad included Callahan, Baldwin, Waldo & Archer. At 156 miles in length, it was the longest railroad to be completed in Florida before the start of the American Civil War. The Florida Railroad was adversely affected by the Civil War. The USS Hatteras raided Cedar Key in January 1862, destroying the railroad's rolling stock & buildings. In March 1862 a Union squadron seized Fernandina. Shells fired by the USS Ottawa damaged the last train leaving Fernandina, killing or injuring several passengers, & almost killing Senator Yulee. In 1864, the Confederate States Army pulled up rails from the Florida Railroad to use on a new rail line from Live Oak, Florida to Lawton, Georgia. Union forces had also destroyed 30 miles of track leading from Cedar Key. The Dickerson syndicate resumed operation of the Florida Railroad after the war, but w/ much of the railroad's equipment, facilities & track destroyed or seized, the company did not do well, & defaulted on its bonds to the Internal Improvement Fund in 1866. The railroad was auctioned off, & bought back by the Dickerson syndicate for twenty percent of the original value o Item ordered may not be exact piece shown. All original and authentic.
Price: 3395 USD
Location: Portsmouth, New Hampshire
End Time: 2025-01-22T16:10:42.000Z
Shipping Cost: 6.25 USD
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Return shipping will be paid by: Buyer
All returns accepted: Returns Accepted
Item must be returned within: 30 Days
Refund will be given as: Money Back
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