Product Details
| Company |
Ohio and Pennsylvania Rail Road Company |
| Certificate Type |
Capital Stock
|
| Date Issued |
August 20, 1853
|
| Canceled |
Yes
|
| Printer |
Toppan, Carpenter & Co.
|
| Signatures |
Hand signed
|
|
Approximate Size
|
10 1/2" (w) by 9 1/4" (h)
|
Product Images
|
Show the exact certificate you will receive |
|
Authentic
|
Yes
|
| Additional Details |
NA
|
Historical Context
The Ohio and Pennsylvania Railroad was chartered in Ohio on February 24 and in Pennsylvania on April 11, 1848, to build from Allegheny City (annexed by Pittsburgh in 1907) west to Crestline, Ohio, on the Cleveland, Columbus and Cincinnati Railroad. It was organized on June 15 with William Robinson Jr. as president, and construction began on July 4, 1849. The first section, from Allegheny City west to New Brighton, opened July 30, 1851. Extensions opened to New Galilee on October 22 and Enon Valley November 19. On November 27, 1851, a section between Salem and Alliance, Ohio, was completed, but not yet connected to the rest. On December 8, the east section was extended west to East Palestine, Ohio, with a stagecoach transfer provided for through travel. Further sections opened January 3, 1852, west to Columbiana, and on January 6 the gap between Columbiana and Salem was filled. In conjunction with the Cleveland and Pittsburgh Railroad, connecting at Alliance, a through line was provided between Cleveland and Pittsburgh. On March 11, 1852, an extension west to Massillon was opened with an excursion. On August 10, 1852, a further extension from Massillon west to Wooster opened. The line west to Mansfield was finished April 8, 1853, and the full line to Crestline opened April 11. With this it formed part of a through line to Cincinnati via the Cleveland, Columbus and Cincinnati Railroad.
Work began on August 16, 1854, on the Fort Wayne Railroad Bridge over the Allegheny River to extend the O&P into Pittsburgh to connect with the Pennsylvania Railroad. The bridge opened September 22, 1857, with a temporary station at Penn Street and Tenth Street.
The Ohio and Indiana Railroad was chartered in Ohio on March 26, 1850, and in Indiana on January 15, 1851, to extend the line west to Fort Wayne, Indiana. It was organized July 4, 1850, and work began in February 1852. Some of the capital was gained from a merger with the Great Western Railroad of Ohio in 1851. On August 26, 1853, the line opened from Crestline west to Bucyrus, and a continuation west to Forest opened in early January 1854. On June 10 the line opened west to Delphos, and on October 31 the full line to Fort Wayne was completed, opening the next day.
The Fort Wayne and Chicago Railroad was chartered in Indiana on May 11, 1852, and organized September 14, 1852, as a further extension west to Chicago. It was chartered February 5, 1853, in Illinois. The first section opened in February 1856 from Fort Wayne to Columbia City.
On July 26, 1856, the Pittsburgh, Fort Wayne and Chicago Rail Road was formed as a consolidation of the Fort Wayne and Chicago, Ohio and Indiana, and Ohio and Pennsylvania Railroads. Extensions opened west to Warsaw September 28, Plymouth November 10, Englewood, Illinois (south of Chicago) on November 29, 1858, and Van Buren Street in Chicago on December 25, 1858. On January 1, 1859, trains started running to Chicago, with a terminal at the future location of Union Station. The part west of Plymouth was built with rails removed from the New Portage Railroad.
From the early days, the Pennsylvania Railroad (PRR) had been involved with the project, supplying funds. Once the Fort Wayne Railroad Bridge at Pittsburgh was finished in 1857, trains began to run through from Philadelphia. In 1858 the PFW&C began using the first Union Station in Pittsburgh, shared with the PRR.
On July 1, 1859, the PFW&C defaulted on its debts, and was sold at foreclosure on October 24, 1861. It was reorganized as the Pittsburgh, Fort Wayne and Chicago Railway February 26, 1862.
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