Product Details
Intricately engraved antique stock certificate from the Kings County Elevated Railroad Company dating back to the early 1900's. This document was printed by the American Bank Note Company, and measures approximately 11 3/4" (w) by 8" (h).
The vignette on this piece shows Brooklyn Burough Hall.
Images
The images presented are representative of the piece(s) you will receive. When representative images are presented for one of our offerings, you will receive a certificate in similar condition as the one pictured; however dating, denomination, certificate number and issuance details may vary.
Historical Context
The Kings County Elevated Railway (KCERy) was founded January 6, 1879 but did not open its first line for revenue service until 1888. The company was organized by Judge Hiram Bond and financed by a group of investors from Boston that included Willard T. Sears of the architectural firm Cummings and Sears, which had experience in designing stone railroad bridges and ramps. The company did surveys and design work and promoted the project.
Due to the principals behind the project being from out of town, the project had difficulty getting fully licensed. The package of rights and designs were sold to New York City investors led by Gen. James Jourdan due to the lack of support for the Bostonians by local political leaders. Due to the persistence of Jourdan the project eventually got off the ground. The company directors besides Jourdan were Edward A. Abbott, Henry J. Davison, Harvey Farrington, Wendell Goodwin, Henry J. Robinson, James O. Sheldon and William A. Read. William A. Read was the financier whose company Read & Company later became Dillon, Read. On October 1, 1899, the Kings County Elevated Railroad (KCERR) became successor to the KCERy, and on May 24, 1900 the KCERR was merged into its competitor, the Brooklyn Union Elevated Railroad company, thus ending its separate corporate existence.
The KCERy ran only one rapid transit mainline, the Fulton Street Elevated, beginning in 1888, but it was one of the most lucrative in Brooklyn, operating from Fulton Ferry, through the heart of the downtown area, then through the center of the borough, and the communities of Bedford-Stuyvesant, Brownsville and East New York to City Line. In addition, the KCERy later acquired access to the tracks of the Brooklyn Bridge railroad to bring its trains to the Park Row terminal in New York City (Manhattan) opposite the New York City Hall.
In 1896, the KCERy built a short elevated line from Franklin Avenue and Fulton Street to connect to the tracks of the Brooklyn & Brighton Beach RR south of Atlantic Avenue, permitting KCERy elevated trains access to the communities of Crown Heights, Flatbush, Midwood, Homecrest, Sheepshead Bay and Coney Island at Brighton Beach.
