A Nutshell History of North Carolina by Fortson Ben

Author:Fortson, Ben [Fortson, Ben]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Arcadia Publishing Inc.
Published: 2016-08-01T04:00:00+00:00

1848: CALVIN ’s RAILROAD

In the summer of 1833, the Petersburg Railroad of Virginia extended its lines into NC, stopping near Halifax. Soon, the eastern seaboard of Carolina was shipping mountain loads of cotton, tobacco and rice into the state of Virginia and northward. To even the most chowder-headed businessman, it had become obvious: the railway was the path to riches. Railroad fever was officially underway in NC.

Within the next five years, every business, town and hovel wanted a railway connection, and the good citizens of NC hoped that somebody else—say, a company from Virginia or South Carolina—would make it happen. A few businessmen decided to take it to the next level. Edward Dudley, one such entrepreneur, raised enough capital to build a private railroad from Wilmington to Weldon—at 161 miles, it was the longest rail line in the world in 1840. No small accomplishment! As rail interest peaked, NC legislators took an unusual and progressive step.

The year was 1848, and assemblyman Calvin Graves decided to take one for the opposing team. The “opposing team” was a group of western legislators pushing forward the first publicly owned railroad line, aiming to connect the Piedmont with the east. Casting the deciding vote in a typical east versus west tiebreaker, Graves would take major heat from his eastern constituents, who would refuse to reelect him when they discovered the proposed railroad bypassed their district.

The railroad would cost the state $3 million, but the resulting debt would bolster the economy of NC into the next century. For sacrificing his political career, Calvin Graves was given the honor of plunging the first shovel in Greensboro soil. Four years later, the railroad opened the 130-mile distance between Greensboro and Goldsboro, and a Charlotte section was completed a few months later. Soon, NC was enjoying 223 miles of modern, publicly owned commerce.

North Carolina’s new railway system would usher in a long period of industrial growth, urban development and economic progress, transforming NC like no other technological development before or since. Today, NC boasts twenty-six freight companies and five passenger companies traveling over four thousand miles of rail.

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