Dubuque and Pacific Railroad Company stock certificate c1853 (Iowa)

Early railroad piece. Vignette of a period steam train with cars passing a river scene. Small vignette at lower left of a steam train traveling under a bridge. Unissued and not cancelled.  Circa 1853. Dated 185_ on the cert.  Approximately 10.5 x 6 inches.

The Dubuque and Pacific Rail Road Company was incorporated under general laws of Iowa, May 19, 1853. The property owned on date of sale consisted of a single-track, standard gage railroad, extending from Dubuque to Jesup, Iowa, about 78 miles.

The first division, Dubuque to Dyersville, Iowa, about 29 miles, was completed in May 1857, and the second division, Dyersville to Jesup, Iowa, about 49 miles, was completed in March 1860. The first division was constructed by R. B. Mason & Company, and the second division by Oliver P. Root, both independent contractors.

Dubuque and Pacific Railroad, was an initial extension of the Illinois Central from the Galena, Illinois, area across the Mississippi. By September 10, 1856, the “Dubuque,” an aptly-named locomotive for the occasion, ferried across the Mississippi. As funds poured in from land town lot auctions put on by the railroad enabled by the congressional act, the bills quickly piled up.

By 1859, the Dubuque and Pacific went into receivership before finding reorganization as the Dubuque and Sioux City Railroad in 1860. Two years later, the railroad finally connected Cedar Falls with points east, and citizens celebrated by adorning the locomotive engine with a wreath of cedar.

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