Series VIII: Illinois Central Railroad, 1851-1863
Scope and Contents note
The Illinois Central Railroad was chartered in 1851 to span from Cairo, (at the southern tip of Illinois), to Galena (in northwestern Illinois) with a branch to Chicago. The Illinois Central Railroad was the first railroad company to receive a federal land grant. Despite the fact that the land was granted from the government in return for a percentage of the income of the railroad, the company still had trouble finding investors. It opened its first section to Chicago in 1852 and the line was finished in 1856. The account documents and correspondence in this subseries relate to Gouverneur Morris's stock holdings in the railroad. His involvement in the construction of the railroad is unclear.
Sources:
Corliss, Carlton J. Main Line of Mid-America: the Story of the Illinois Central. New York: Creative Age Press, 1950.
A Brief Historical Sketch of the Illinois Central Railroad. Illinois Central Historical Society. 22 July 2002. http://www.icrrhistorical.org/icrr.history.html.