Washington Branch of Baltimore & Ohio Railroad Company - Stock Certificate

Description

Washington Branch of
t
he Baltimore & Ohio Railroad
First Rail Link to the
Nation's Capital
Stock Certificate No. 447, 100 shares issued to R Garrett & Sons November 5, 1885. Embossed Corporate Seal, printed by Toppan, Carpenter,
Casilear
& Co., New York.
Certificate is in near mint condition.
R. Garrett and Sons is the family firm of longtime B&O President John Work Garrett
Also included is Irrevocable Stock Power dated October
1
1
, 1887 appointing Wm.
Bardley
as Attorney for R Garrett and Sons to dispose of the shares covered by
Washington Branch Certificate No. 447.
The Baltimore and Ohio Railroad pioneered the concept of the common carrier railroad in 1827. In 1835, the B&O’s Washington Branch was the first major rail link to the United
States'
capitol. In fact, the B&O’s Washington spur may be the most important branch line of any railroad in the world. Immediately after it was opened, the line attracted a denser traffic than the railroad’s main line and produced the lion’s share of the B&O’s profits. The B&O was chartered in 1827, and construction on the main line began the next year. The first tickets for passenger excursions were sold in 1829, and the
twenty-one-kilometer
(thirteen-mile) line from Baltimore to Ellicott Mills opened in 1830. Regular service was provided using horses for motive power, but by 1831, steam locomotives took over passenger trains, and horses were completely eliminated from freight service within the next few years. The Baltimore & Ohio was the first common carrier railroad chartered in the United States. It wasn’t the first in the world; that accolade belongs to the Stockton & Darlington and Manchester & Liverpool, both
English
, in 1825. The B&O sent its first engineers and financiers across the Atlantic to inspect and learn from these pioneer railways to learn the latest technology. The railroad was conceived as a means to capture western trade for the port of Baltimore. After seeing the success of transporting passengers and freight from the Maryland communities it passed through to Baltimore, it became obvious that there would be a large demand for rail transportation between Washington, DC and Baltimore. On March 9, 1833 the State of Maryland chartered the Washington branch of the Baltimore & Ohio Railroad. The stock as well as the charter was separate from that of the original B&O. The state helped fund the branch’s construction by buying or subscribing to shares. Many years later, in the 1890’s, the state and the railroad had a long running dispute over dividends and the price paid for shares bought back by the rail corporation. This culminated in hearings held by a special committee of the General Assembly a few years after the turn of the 1900’s. The state ended its ownership interest, and sold all of its shares back to the railroad.