This is a list of the earliest railroads in North America, including various railroad-like precursors to the general modern form of a company or government agency operating locomotive-drawn trains on metal tracks.
While private railroads are legally free to choose their jobs and customers, common carriers must charge fair rates to all comers.
Any effort to arrange early common-carrier railroads in chronological order must choose among various possible criterion dates, including applying for a state charter, receiving a charter, forming a company to build a railroad, beginning construction, opening operations, and so forth.
Name | Chartered | State | Opened | Notes | |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
Union Canal Company of Pennsylvania | Pennsylvania | Chartered on May 30, 1811, to build a canal; authorized to build a railroad on March 3, 1826 | |||
Granite Railway | Massachusetts | Only authorized to carry freight until April 16, 1846 | |||
Delaware and Hudson Canal Company | Pennsylvania | Chartered on March 13, 1823, to build a canal; authorized to build a railroad on April 5, 1826 | |||
Danville and Pottsville Railroad | Pennsylvania | ||||
Mohawk and Hudson Railroad | New York | Carried only passengers for first few years of operation due to competition from the adjacent Erie Canal. | |||
Baltimore and Ohio Railroad | Maryland | First common carrier in the United States, chartered from its inception to haul freight and passengers on timetabled trains over vast distances with steam power, first to open for public service | |||
South Carolina Canal and Railroad Company | South Carolina | Operated first steam hauled passenger train in the United States on a schedule. Known to the public as the Charleston & Hamburg Railroad. | |||
Ithaca and Owego Railroad | New York | ||||
Mill Creek and Mine Hill Navigation and Railroad Company | Pennsylvania | ||||
Tioga Navigation Company | Pennsylvania | Chartered on February 20, 1826, to build a canal or slack-water navigation; authorized to build a railroad on February 7, 1828 | |||
Baltimore and Susquehanna Railroad | Maryland | ||||
Chesterfield Railroad | Virginia | ||||
New Castle and Frenchtown Turnpike and Railroad Company | Maryland | Chartered on January 6, 1810, as the New Castle and Frenchtown Turnpike Company to build a turnpike; renamed and authorized to build a railroad on March 14, 1828 | |||
Philadelphia and Columbia Railroad | Pennsylvania | Part of the state-owned Main Line of Public Works | |||
Schuylkill Valley Navigation Company | Pennsylvania | Chartered on March 20, 1827, to build a canal; authorized to build a railroad on April 14, 1828; renamed Schuylkill Valley Navigation and Railroad Company on January 15, 1829 | |||
Schuylkill East Branch Navigation Company | Pennsylvania | Chartered on February 20, 1826, to build a lock navigation; authorized to build a railroad on April 14, 1828; renamed Little Schuylkill Navigation, Railroad and Coal Company on April 23, 1829 | |||
Mine Hill and Schuylkill Haven Railroad | Pennsylvania | ||||
Northern Liberties and Penn Township Railroad | Pennsylvania | ||||
Mount Carbon Railroad | Pennsylvania | ||||
Tuscumbia Railway | Alabama | ||||
Pontchartrain Railroad | Louisiana | ||||
Lexington and Ohio Railroad | Kentucky | ||||
Camden and Amboy Railroad and Transportation Company | New Jersey | ||||
Petersburg Railroad | Virginia | ||||
Lykens Valley Railroad and Coal Company | Pennsylvania | ||||
Beaver Meadow Railroad and Coal Company | Pennsylvania | ||||
Canajoharie and Catskill Railroad | New York | ||||
Boston and Lowell Railroad | Massachusetts | ||||
Petersburg Railroad | North Carolina | ||||
Paterson and Hudson River Railroad | New Jersey | ||||
Elizabethtown and Somerville Railroad | New Jersey | ||||
Saratoga and Schenectady Railroad | New York | ||||
West Chester Railroad | Pennsylvania | ||||
West Feliciana Railroad | Louisiana | ||||
Philadelphia and Columbia Railroad | Pennsylvania | Part of the state-owned Main Line of Public Works | |||
Southwark Railroad | Pennsylvania | ||||
Cumberland Valley Railroad | Pennsylvania | ||||
Philadelphia and Delaware County Railroad | Pennsylvania | Renamed Philadelphia, Wilmington and Baltimore Railroad on March 14, 1836 | |||
Philadelphia, Germantown and Norristown Railroad | Pennsylvania | First common carrier in Pennsylvania. Earlier railroads were operated to haul minerals like coal and iron, but later in the decade would become modern common carrier systems hauling passengers and public goods. | |||
Winchester and Potomac Railroad | Virginia (now partially West Virginia) | ||||
New York and Harlem Railroad | New York | ||||
Boston and Providence Railroad | Massachusetts | ||||
Boston and Worcester Railroad | Massachusetts | ||||
Clinton and Vicksburg Railroad | Mississippi | Reorganized by the Commercial and Railroad Bank of Vicksburg on 25 December 1833. Reorganized on 9 March 1850 as the Vicksburg and Jackson Railroad. Reorganized in January 1857 as the Southern Railroad of Mississippi. Reorganized on 28 January 1867 as the Vicksburg and Meridian Railroad. On 22 October 1885, the five foot gauge of the entire line from Meridian to Vicksburg, 152 miles including sidings, was changed to standard gauge of 4 feet 6 inches in about 16 hours. From 1889 the Meridian-Vicksburg Railway line was known as the Alabama & Vicksburg Railway line of the Queen and Crescent Route.[26] | |||
Mad River and Lake Erie Railroad | Ohio | ||||
Tuscumbia, Courtland and Decatur Railroad | Alabama | ||||
Wilmington and Susquehanna Railroad | Delaware | ||||
Lawrenceburg and Indianapolis Railroad | Indiana | ||||
Ohio and Indianapolis Railroad | Indiana | Renamed Jeffersonville Railroad on February 3, 1849 | |||
Philadelphia and Trenton Railroad | Pennsylvania | ||||
Baltimore and Port Deposit Railroad | Maryland | ||||
New Jersey Railroad and Transportation Company | New Jersey | ||||
Portsmouth and Roanoke Railroad | Virginia | ||||
New Jersey, Hudson and Delaware Railroad | New Jersey | Merged into the New Jersey Midland Railway on April 26, 1870 | |||
Franklin Railroad | Pennsylvania | ||||
Delaware and Maryland Railroad | Maryland | Merged into the Wilmington and Susquehanna Railroad on April 18, 1836 | |||
York and Maryland Line Railroad | Pennsylvania | ||||
Liggett's Gap Railroad | Pennsylvania | Renamed Lackawanna and Western Railroad on April 14, 1851 | |||
Rensselaer and Saratoga Railroad | New York | ||||
Saratoga and Fort Edward Railroad | New York | Reorganized as the Saratoga and Washington Railroad on May 2, 1834 | |||
New York and Albany Railroad | New York | Sold to the New York and Harlem Railroad on March 9, 1846 | |||
Watertown and Rome Railroad | New York | ||||
Tonawanda Railroad | New York | ||||
New York and Erie Railroad | New York | ||||
Brooklyn and Jamaica Railroad | New York | Leased by the Long Island Rail Road from opening | |||
Hudson and Berkshire Railroad | New York | ||||
Boston, Norwich and New London Railroad | Connecticut | Merged into the Norwich and Worcester Railroad on June 22, 1836 | |||
New York and Stonington Railroad | Connecticut | Merged into the New York, Providence and Boston Railroad on July 1, 1833 | |||
Portsmouth and Lancaster Railroad | Pennsylvania | Renamed Harrisburg, Portsmouth, Mountjoy and Lancaster Railroad on March 11, 1835 | |||
Williamsport and Elmira Railroad | Pennsylvania | ||||
Strasburg Rail Road | Pennsylvania | Still in operation as a shortline freight hauler and tourist railroad. Recognized as the oldest, continuously operating railroad in the United States as it still operates under its original 1832 charter. | |||
New York, Providence and Boston Railroad | Rhode Island | ||||
Detroit and St. Joseph Railroad | Michigan | Sold to the Central Railroad of Michigan on April 22, 1837 |
Selected railroads chartered since 1832: