Belleville and Southern Illinois Railroad Company stock certificate circa 1873 (Illinois) 

Short line railroad company. Classic top center vignette of a steam train and passenger cars in a countryside scene with oil wells of that period. Tiny steam train vignette at the bottom. Unissued and not cancelled. Dated 18__ but circa 1873 from corporate records.  Measures approximately 10.75 x 7 inches.   

The Belleville and Southern Illinois Railroad Company was incorporated on Feb. 14, 1857, in the state of Illinois, with perpetual succession. The over-55-mile road from Belleville to DuQuoin, Illinois, was begun in 1869 and completed Dec. 15, 1873. It was first leased to the St. Louis Alton & Terre Haute Railroad Company (StLA&TH) in 1866, and it was conveyed to that railroad on Sept. 10, 1897.

The Belleville and Southern Illinois Railroad Company was an early railroad that connected East St. Louis to the Illinois Central Railroad. Completed in 1873, it was part of the growth of southern Illinois' railroad network, helping to make areas like Carbondale significant railroad hubs. 

Connection: 
It linked East St. Louis to the main line of the Illinois Central Railroad.

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