Manufacturer's Railroad Company stock certificate 1870s (Harrisburg Pennsylvania)

Plain certificate with a lot of Central PA railroad history. Unissued and not cancelled. Dated 18__ but circa 1870 from state and successor records. Measures approximately 9 x 5.5 inches without attached stub.

The Manufacturers Railroad Company was formed during the mid-19th-century industrial expansion in Pennsylvania. This corporate entity was incorporated 1870 but absorbed and sold under foreclosure with conveyance into the Philadelphia and Reading Railroad system in June 1873. It originally served the Harrisburg area railcar builders as a switchyard before the cars were conveyed elsewhere by bigger rail lines.

The phrase "Manufacturers Rail Road Company" typically refers to historical short line or industrial terminal switching railroads in the United States.

Dauphin Car Works:
Operating during the 1880s in the borough of Dauphin, PA, this localized rolling stock builder was associated with industrialist Michael Schall’s network of car works (which included shops in York, Glen Rock, and Middletown) as the Empire Car Works and Middletown Car Works, constructing freight and specialized rail cars.

Harrisburg Car Manufacturing Company:
Established in 1853 on Herr Street in nearby Harrisburg, it was a major regional producer of passenger, mail, box, and platform cars before evolving through various iterations into the Harrisburg Steel Corporation and later Harsco/Enviri Corporation. One factor contributing to Harrisburg’s resurgence was the Pennsylvania oil boom. Oil had been discovered at Titusville in 1859, and by 1865 Pennsylvania was in the midst of an oil boom. Tank cars were in great demand, and Harrisburg was ready to supply them. In 1869, it was incorporated as the Harrisburg Foundry & Machine Company.

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