Previous to this time several short
railroads were in existence. ' They
however, were small private enter
prises. The first railroad ever built
in ithe United States was completed
in 182? and ran from the granite
quarries of Quiney, Mass., to tide
water, a distance of five miles. This
railroad was built to supply the
granite for the Bunker Hill monu
ment, and was made of wooden rails
laid on granite sills, with a strap
rail of rolled iron.
In 1827 a second railroad was
begun. It was completed in May
of the same year. It covered a dis
tance of nine miles, extending from
the coal mines to the Lehigh river
at Mauch Chunk, Pa. The rails were
of timber covered with a strap of
yon. on tnis raiiroaa tne loaaea j river
cars coasted down an incline by
gravity and were drawn up- by
mules.
The Delaware and Hudson Canal
Co., constructed a railway sixteen
miles long In 1828. This railroad
was built for the purpose of trans
porting anthracite coal and reached
from the company's coal mines at
Honesdale, Pa., to tidewater.
The construction of these private
roads was followed rapidly by that
of the Baltimore & Ohio, the Mo
hawk & Hudson, the South Caro
lina, the Camden & Amboy, the Itha
ca & Oswego, and the Lexington &
Ohio, which at the end of the year
had ninety-two miles built and 463
miles projected. All of these roads
were operated by horsepower.
. At the end of ten years there were
2816 miles of railroads in the United
States. From that Ume on rail
road building made rapid strides and
in 1900 there were in operation 230,
084 miles of railroads in the country.
