A Wisconsin Railroad That Never Was
Rare map of the railroad lines of the Racine, Janesville & Mississippi Railroad, published in Racine with the first annual report of the Racine, Janesville & Mississippi Railroad.
The map shows the area between Lake Michigan and Eastern Iowa, with a line planned to extend as far was as Sioux City, Dubuque and Prairie du Chen.
The following are also shown:
- Rockford & Rock Island Railroad
- Galena & Chicago Railroad
- Milwaukee & Mississippi Railroad
- Southern Wisconsin Railroad
- Racine & Portage City Railroad
- Central Railroad
Racine, Janesville & Mississippi Railroad
In 1852, the Racine, Janesville & Mississippi Railroad Company was incorporated by Charles S. Wright, Marshall M. Strong, Samuel G. Bugh, James Catton, Peter Campbell, Henry S. Durand, James H. Earnest, John P. Dickson, Daniel Lawson, William J. Allen, S. S. Barlow, James Neil and William H. Lawrence.
The charter gave the Company power to locate and build a railroad from Racine, by way of Janesville, through Rock, Green, La Fayette and Grant Counties to the Mississippi River. In 1855, by act of the Legislature, the name was changed to the Racine & Mississippi Railroad Company, and the intention to build a railroad to Janesville, and thence in Wisconsin to the Mississippi River, was abandoned. The road was pushed forward from Racine during this year, and completed to Beloit, via Clinton Junction, September 15, 1856.
Rarity
The map and report are very rare on the market. We find only the reference in Sabin, Bibliotheca Americana, p. 229.