Oconee and Western Railroad stock certificate circa 1892 (Georgia)

Vignette of a steam train pulling railcars through a country scene. Holes through parts of the vignette as shown. Unissued and hole cancelled. Dated 189_ , circa 1892 from company records. Measures approximately 10.5 x 8.5 inches.   

Organized in 1892 in Georgia, United States, the Oconee and Western Railroad was founded to take over operations of the failed Empire and Dublin Railroad. The E&D had built a line from Dublin to Hawkinsville, and in 1896 the O&W had started to extend the line to Grovania.

The Oconee and Western Railroad had its beginnings in the mid-1880s as a tram road from Yonkers to Empire to Hawkinsville.  The Empire Lumber Company applied for a charter as the Empire and Dublin Railroad in 1888.  The road would run from Empire in western Dodge County to Dublin.  The principal office was established in Empire in Dodge County.  Eventually, a western leg would be constructed to Hawkinsville. 

Within a short time, the company changed its name to reflect its future.  The new Oconee and Western Railroad headquartered its offices and shops in Empire at the junction of the Oconee and Western with the Georgia Railway.  The tracks reached Dublin in 1891 – the same year as the W. & T. and the M.D. and S. railroads.  The Hawkinsville leg was completed the next year connecting the Oconee and Ocmulgee Rivers. The railroad was primarily a freight carrier because of the vast agricultural and timber resources in the area.  New markets were opened for the towns on the line and those at each end of the railroad as well.  

From the beginning of the Wrightsville and Tennille Railroad, there were plans for westward expansion to Hawkinsville.  President and General  A.F. Daley announced the purchase of the Oconee and Western Railroad on November 9, 1898.  The sale was completed on February 1, 1899.

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