South Side Rail Road Company stock certificate 1859 - early Virginia railroad

Very difficult to find Virginia RR piece with beautiful vignette of a very early steam locomotive. Unique top and bottom border of repeating train pattern. Issued and not cancelled.  Dated 1859. Pre Civil War!  Smaller certificate measuring approximately 8.5 x 5.5 inches.

From our personal Virginia collection.

The Southside Railroad was formed in Virginia in 1846. Construction was begun in 1849 and completed in 1854. The 5 ft  gauge railroad connected City Point, a port on the James River with the farm country south and west of Petersburg Virginia to Lynchburg Virginia a distance of about 132 miles. Consolidated with Norfolk and Petersburg, Virginia and Tennessee, and Virginia and Kentucky railroads in 1870 to form Atlantic, Mississippi & Ohio Railroad Company.

The Southside Railroad was important to the Confederate States of America during the American Civil War (1861–1865). Ravaged by the war, it was rebuilt and later became an important part of Norfolk and Western and Norfolk Southern's coal route from the mountains to port at Hampton Roads. In addition to coal, most of the route is in active use in the 20th century for intermodal container and automobile parts and completed vehicle shipments.

Detailed history:

The State of Virginia issued the charter for the new Southside Railroad in 1846, with a capital of $1 million. directed towards the project. The State of Virginia gave all of its stock in the Petersburg Railroad to the City of Petersburg for the construction of the Southside Railroad. The stock was given on the condition that construction must start in three years or the stock would revert to the State.

The new board of directors began directing the extending of the line to Lynchburg to make a junction with the Richmond and Danville Railroad. The board purchased four and a half thousand tons of iron from England to be paid with cash and delivered by ship to City Point. They also purchased 20,000 sills, railroad ties, made of trees which resisted rot, Juniper, American chestnut and Post Oak to be delivered to the wharf. The board purchased land to build a depot. They hired an engineering team with one chief engineer, six assistant engineers and 17 enslaved Africans. To grade and build the whole line, they hired 16 contractors, each outfitted with a wagon, carts, teams of horses and the employ of almost 800 laborers in total. The city of Petersburg put forward over $400,000 and 44 investors invested $14,000. The City of Farmville bought a subscription of $100,000. Individual investors bought $150,000 worth of stock. The company could begin grading and building the railroad to Lynchburg.

Construction began from the eastern end in 1849, reaching Burkeville and a connection with the Richmond and Danville Railroad in 1852.

Following a more circuitous route through Farmville in response to financial incentives from the community, the railroad constructed the famous 21 span High Bridge across the Appomattox River valley about 6 miles east of Farmville. The structure was 2,400 feet long and as high as 117 feet in the center, one of the largest in the world when built.

The Southside Railroad was completed to Percival Island across the James River from Lynchburg in 1854.

Also in 1854, the Southside Railroad acquired the 9-mile long City Point Railroad. It had been purchased by the City of Petersburg in 1847, and renamed Appomattox Railroad. Paralleling the Appomattox River from Petersburg to its confluence with the James River at City Point, the City Point Railroad provided an ideal link for the Southside Railroad to reach a deep water steamship connection on the navigable portion of the larger river.

Over 167 years old.  Very early railroad stock from VA!

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