Lake Wimico and St. Joseph Canal and Railroad
- Lake Wimico and St. Joseph Canal and Railroad
The Lake Wimico and St. Joseph Canal and Railroad was the first steam railroad in Florida and one of the first in the U.S., opening in 1836. It was soon abandoned, and is now mostly a state highway.
History
The Lake Wimico and St. Joseph Canal Company was chartered in 1835, and was renamed in 1838 to the Lake Wimico and St. Joseph Canal and Railroad Company. The first section, stretching 9 miles (14 km) from St. Joseph on the St. Joseph Bay to White City near Lake Wimico, opened on September 5, 1836. [http://list.webengr.com/pipermail/fhstoday/2003-August/001098.html] The rest of the road opened in stages from 1837 to 1839, eventually reaching Iola on the Apalachicola River. The company did good business hauling cotton to St. Joseph.
In 1841 yellow fever struck St. Joseph, by that time a popular summer resort, and the city was abandoned. A reincorporation that year as the Iola and St. Joseph Canal and Railroad Company failed, and rails were removed soon after and shipped to Georgia. [http://www.waterfrontlivingmag.com/latesummer04/stepbackintime.shtml] The West Florida and Alabama Railroad, incorporated in 1883, attempted to revive the roadbed, but it too failed. In the 1920s the portion of the roadbed between of Wewahitchka and White City in Gulf County, became part of the Beeline Highway, a national auto trail, and now part of State Road 71. [http://web.archive.org/web/20041019125106/http://www.newsherald.com/LOCAL/WOM16.HTM]
References
* [http://www.earlpleasants.com/search_1.asp Railroad History Database]
* [http://members.aol.com/bettymaes/OLDSTJOE.htm Old St. Joe, Florida]
Wikimedia Foundation.
2010.
Look at other dictionaries:
Florida Central and Peninsular Railroad — Infobox SG rail railroad name=Florida Central and Peninsular Railroad logo filename= logo size= old gauge= marks= locale=Florida start year=1837 end year=1900 hq city=The Florida Central and Peninsular Railroad was the final name of a system of… … Wikipedia
St. Joseph Point Light — Infobox Lighthouse caption = The St. Joseph Point Rear Range Light location = near Port St. Joe, Florida coordinates = coord|29|44|54|N|85|18|15|W|region:US type:landmark yearlit = 1902 automated = yeardeactivated = 1960 foundation = construction … Wikipedia
St. Joseph, Florida — was a boomtown that briefly became the largest community in Florida, before being destroyed only eight years after it was founded. St. Joseph was founded in 1835 on the shores of St. Joseph Bay, one of the finest natural harbors on the Gulf Coast … Wikipedia
List of railroads incorporated in Florida — Most of the railroads were chartered by the Florida State Legislature, but some were incorporated under the general incorporation laws. The Legislature met every two years, which is why most railroads were incorporated in odd numbered… … Wikipedia
Oldest railroads in North America — Several railroads have been called the oldest in North America. Contents 1 Early experimental railroads 2 The Granite, Coal and Cotton Railroads 3 Common carriers 4 … Wikipedia
List of Florida railroads — Contents 1 Current railroads 1.1 Common freight carriers 1.2 Private freight carriers … Wikipedia
1836 in rail transport — EventsJanuary events* January 16 The Galena and Chicago Union Railroad, the oldest portion of what is to become the Chicago and North Western Railway, is chartered.February events* February 8 London Greenwich Railway opens its first section, the… … Wikipedia
September 5 in rail transport — Events 19th century * 1836 ndash; The Lake Wimico and St. Joseph Canal and Railroad, the first steam railroad in Florida, opens. * 1872 ndash; The Atchison, Topeka and Santa Fe Railroad, building westward from Newton, Kansas, reaches Dodge City,… … Wikipedia
