Tallahassee Railroads (Group 6)

During the early to mid nineteenth century, railroads began to boom across the country as this was now the fastest route of transportation for people and cargo. Towns across the United States began building railroads to nearby cities in an attempt to attract new industries and tourists in order to expand their local and federal economy which in turn led to the development of residential, commercial and industrial areas. This was the same for the state of Florida and especially its new State Capitol, Tallahassee. Chosen as the state's capitol due to the fact that it was a midway point between the two major cities of St. Augustine and Pensacola, Tallahassee was primed for the up-and-coming railroad system that was sweeping the nation. As the capitol between major cities, the Tallahasee railroads helped the state of Florida's agricultural and maufactoring instustries skyrocket and become leaders in production and exports in lumbar and phospahte. An added benefit of these railroads was the tourist industry. Landlocked state residents could fianlly reach beaches and tropical destinations such as Miami or Tampa in a fraction of the time that they could prior to the railroads being built. This helped fuel the economy not just locally but state wide as well and made Florida a top tier destination in the United States of America for centuries to come.

In the upper left hand corner is Laura Quayle Benson’s ticket for the Florida East Coast Railway Flagler System, completed in 1912 by Henry Flagler.

Chartered just 76 years before the Laura Quayle Benson Scrapbook, The Tallahassee-St. Marks line was the first rail development authorized in Florida in 1834 (known as the Tallahassee Railroad). This railroad was mule-powered and connected the cotton fields of Leon and Jefferson counties with the port city of St. Marks. This was a quick, easy, and efficient new way to transport Tallahassee's cotton to ship from St. Marks port, resulting in the flourishing of Tallahasse's agircultural and manufacturing industires. After this railroad opened, Florida’s railroad network began to boom. During this time, there were six major railroads in Florida. The Tallahassee Railroad was absorbed into larger Florida railroads and became the Florida Central & Peninsular Railroad in the 1890s before finally becoming part of the Seaboard Air Line System. Today, the abandoned railroad exists as a 20-mile trail from Tallahassee to St. Marks.

What is known today as the College Town and Railroad Square areas in Tallahassee was once the hub for a series of railroad spurs that connected nearby warehouses to one of several main trunk lines. These trunk lines included the Seaboard Air Line RR (which ran from Pensacola to Jacksonville), the Georgia, Florida & Alabama RR (ran from Carrabelle, FL to Columbus, GA) , and the Tallahassee RR.

The introduction of railroads to Florida as the main mode of transportation resulted in an exlosion in its population. The number of tourists greatly increased as the railroads opened up access to beautiful coastal areas in Florida. This increase in tourism was extremely beneficial for these cities' economies as well as Florida's economy as a whole.