St. Charles Republican intelligencer. (St. Charles [Charles City], Iowa) 1856-1857, 1857-05-14
Chicago. Iowa and Nebraska Railroad.

During recent visit to Chicago W.
were accidentally present at meet
ing of the Directors Of the Chicago
Iowa and Nebraska Railroad Compa
my. At that meeting, assurances wer'
given which materially strengthens
our confidence in the noble enterpris
of building a great railroad thorough
fare from Chicago via. Clinton, Ceda
Rapids and the Cedar Valley to st
Paul. The company is strong and
able, and it is highly probable that the
first locomotive seen in st. Charles
will come over the road built by them
They assured us that it was not fol
one man or two, (and they merely
agents for procuring subscriptions to
stock, &C., to dictate in the location
of the road. On the contrary, the Di.
rectors themselves would examine the
route from one extremity to the other
in order that the road might be so 10
Gated as to conform to the best inter
ests Of both the people on the route
and the company. An engineer of un
doubted skill and integrity, was to be
employed to make the locating survey,
and it was expected to put the road
under contract for grading, from Ce.
dar Rapids northward to the Minneso.
ia line, during the present summer
A bridge is to be built over the Mis-
sissippi at Clinton and completed with
in two years, so that, in the language
of one Of the Directors, if the people
of St. Charles wish to send fat COW
to Chicago she can remain in the car
the whole distance and not be taken
out and put on board ferry boat
We believe it to be greatly for the in
terest of the people Of Floyd county
to aid the construction of this road as
far as they may be able to do so ; and
and as they will naturally desire all
the information that can be obtained
in reference to the company who are
to build it, we have copied
below several extracts from the report
which has been recently published by
order of the Board of Directors
The Chicago, Iowa and Nebraska
Railroad was organized under the GEN.
eral Corporation Law of the State of
Iowa, January 26th, 1856, for the pur-
pose of extending the Galena Air Line
Road, or the Dixon branch of the Ca
lena aud Chicago Union Railroad, from
opposite its terminus { Fulton City, on
the Mississippi River, westerly, or
1orthwesterly through the State of
Iowa. Commencing at the town of
Clinton, on the west bank of the Mis-
sissippi River, nearly opposite to Full
ton City, it is the design of the Chica-
so, Iowa and Nebraska Company to
construct their road westward through
the counties of Clinton, Cedar and Linn,
to the town Of Cedar Rapids, on the
Cedar River and thence to run
branch up the valley of the Cedar Riv-
er to the Minnesota line. The charter
gives the right to the Company to run
= track from their line, as proposed,
TO Iowa City, in Johnson county, by
which they would fall in the direct line
to Council Bluffs, on the Missouri Riy-
er, and to run to Fort Dodge, and
thence to the Missouri River or, to
make any branches that interest and
policy may dictate. The capital stock
Of the Chicago, Iowa and Nebraska
Railroad may be raised by the vote of
the Stockholders to any amount neces-
sary to carry out their enterprise. Up
to this date, $602,90O of reliable sub
scriptions have been made, and con-
tinued accessions are procured by the
agents of the Company.
The grading on the first division of
this railroad, extending from Clinton,
On the Mississippi river, to De Witt,
the county seat Of Clinton county, a
distance Of twenty miles, was COM
menced in April, 1856. The iron for
this division was purchased in August,
1856. The track-laying was COM
mcnced in October, 1856. The first
was placed upon thdlroad
1855. And the termina-
ton of the first year of the Company's
existence finds the greater part of the
first division Of the road opened for
business, with regular trains.
In addition to this rapid achieve
ment, full and accurate surveys Of the
second division, extending from De
Witt to Cedar Rapids, a distance of
sixty-one miles, were in the meantime
completed. and final location was
made and the second division was
let to responsible contractors in the
month of October, 1855, and the work
was actively commenced along the
whole line in November following. 1t
is the Company's purpose and expec-
tation to complete the entire road to
Cedar Rapids "a total distance of
eighty-one miles from Clinton) the
present year, and open it for business.
The town of Clinton, the eastern ter
minus of the Chicago, Iowa and Ne
braska Railroad, is most flourishing
young town, Oh the west bank of the
Mississippi River, one hundred and
thirty-six miles due west from Chica-
go. The Mississippiriver at this point,
by a great bend to the eastward,
which strikes every eye on the first
glance at map, approaches nearer to
Chicago and to Lake Michigan than
ut any other point. In a commercial
view, this is an important and unri.
vailed advantage. Clinton has grown
to population Of !, 200, mostly in one
year.
The distance FRI
Rapids, by this
miles ~ stat