ATLANTIC AND PACIFIC RAILROAD. The Atlantic and Pacific Railroad Company was chartered in New York State in 1852 for the purpose of constructing a transcontinental railroad. The initial capitalization was $100,000,000. Anson Jonesqv became a stockholder and director and was made commissioner to Texas. Richard J. Walker, former United States Secretary of the Treasury under President James T. Polk, and former Georgia Congressman T. Butler King were the primary promoters of the project. The company wanted to secure the sole franchise for a transcontinental railroad and acquired the charter of the Texas Western for $600,000 in stock and an option to purchase the other transcontinental projects chartered by the state. As a result, the Atlantic and Pacific was the only company to submit a bid that met the provisions of the Mississippi and Pacific act of 1853. However, the securities the company offered as bond were rejected by Governor Elisha M. Peaseqv and the contract was canceled. At a meeting held in Montgomery, Alabama, on December 16, 1854, the promoters reorganized under the Texas Western charter, as all hopes of building a transcontinental railroad by the Atlantic and Pacific had ended.
BIBLIOGRAPHY: Alexander Deussen, "The Beginning of the Texas Railroad System," Transactions of the Texas Academy of Science for 1906 (1907). Marshall Republican, January 13, 1855.
George C. Werner
