Poughkeepsie & Eastern Rail Road Co.

Product Details

Beautifully engraved antique stock certificate from the Poughkeepsie & Eastern Rail Road Co. dating back to the 1870's. This document, which is signed by the company President and Secretary, was printed by Chas. M. Cornwell, Stationer, and measures approximately 10" (w) by 6 1/4" (h).

The certificate features a vignette of a train steaming past two men with horses and a paddlewheeler.

Images

You will receive the exact certificate pictured.

Please note cropping to borders.

Historical Context

The Poughkeepsie & Eastern Rail Road Company was incorporated in New York on April 23, 1866. This route ran from Poughkeepsie northeast to Pine Plains, then a short distance to Boston Corners in Columbia County before coming back down to State Line east of Millerton, where it made its connections with the Connecticut Western Railroad.

A primary mover behind the Poughkeepsie & Eastern Railroad was John Flack Winslow, who moved to Poughkeepsie from Troy, New York in 1867. Winslow is remembered mainly as the man who managed the building of the Monitor during the Civil War. He and Erastus Cornell owned the largest foundry on the Hudson River in Troy.

When Winslow was active in the Troy foundry operation, he obtained much of his iron ore from the Millerton/Dover Plains area in northeast Dutchess County. At that time the foundries operated by Edwin Bech obtained most of their ore from the Beekman/East Fishkill area. The ore was transported to Poughkeepsie by oxcart along plank roads that made transportation possible in rainy times.

Winslow developed the plan to organize a railroad from Millerton to Poughkeepsie. At this time most railroad development was private, so the money had to be raised from private individuals, but government approval to secure the right of way, using eminent domain if need be.

In June, 1874, the P&E went into the hands of a receiver and was sold in April, 1875, to George Pelton of Poughkeepsie, who reorganized it as the Poughkeepsie, Hartford and Boston Railroad Company. Operation continued as under the P&E management. Late in 1886 the PH&B was sold under foreclosure and in January was reorganized as the New York and Massachusetts Railway Company. Financial troubles continued until March, 1893, when the road was again sold under foreclosure. In the following month it was chartered as the Poughkeepsie and Eastern Railway Company, almost its original name. In June, 1898, the road once again went into receivership; nine years later, in 1907, it was merged into the Central New England System.