Edgefield, Trenton and Aiken Railroad

Last updated
Edgefield, Trenton and Aiken Railroad
Dates of operation 18791882
Successor French Broad and Atlantic Railway
Track gauge 4 ft 8 12 in (1,435 mm) standard gauge

The Edgefield, Trenton and Aiken Railroad was a railroad that served South Carolina immediately after the end of the Reconstruction Era of the United States.

South Carolina State of the United States of America

South Carolina is a state in the Southeastern United States and the easternmost of the Deep South. It is bordered to the north by North Carolina, to the southeast by the Atlantic Ocean, and to the southwest by Georgia across the Savannah River.

Contents

Creation

In 1879, the charter of the Edgefield Branch Railroad was amended to change the line's name to the Edgefield, Trenton and Aiken Railroad Company. The Edgefield Branch Railroad was incorporated to build a railroad line between Edgefield Court House, South Carolina, to Trenton, South Carolina, where it could connect with the Charlotte, Columbia and Augusta Railroad. [1]

The Edgefiled Branch Railroad was a South Carolina railroad that existed immediately after the Reconstruction Era of the United States.

Edgefield County, South Carolina County in the United States

Edgefield County is a county located on the western border of the U.S. state of South Carolina. As of the 2010 census, its population was 26,985. Its county seat is Edgefield.

Trenton, South Carolina Town in South Carolina, United States

Trenton is a town in Edgefield County, South Carolina, United States. The population was 196 at the 2010 census, down from 226 in 2000.

Route

Edgefield, South Carolina Town in South Carolina, United States

Edgefield is a town in Edgefield County, South Carolina, United States. The population was 4,750 at the 2010 census. It is the county seat of Edgefield County.

The Charlotte, Columbia and Augusta Railroad was formed in 1869 with the merger of the Charlotte and South Carolina Railroad and the Columbia and Augusta Railroad.

Aiken, South Carolina City in South Carolina, United States

Aiken is the largest city in and the county seat of Aiken County, in the western portion of the state of South Carolina, United States. With Augusta, Georgia, it is one of the two largest cities of the Central Savannah River Area. It is part of the Augusta-Richmond County Metropolitan Statistical Area.

Merger

The Edgefield, Trenton and Aiken joined together with the Atlantic and French Broad Valley Railroad in 1882 to form the French Broad and Atlantic Railway. [2]

The Atlantic and French Broad Valley Railroad was a railroad that served South Carolina in the period immediately following the Reconstruction Era of the United States.

The French Broad and Atlantic Railway was a railroad that served western South Carolina in the late 19th century.

See also

The Belton, Williamston and Easley Railroad was a Carolinian railroad company, chartered shortly after the end of the Reconstruction Era of the United States.

The Carolina and Cumberland Gap Railway was a railroad in the Southeastern United States that existed in the late 19th century.

The Carolina, Cumberland Gap and Chicago Railway was a late 19th-century railroad that served the Southeastern United States.

Related Research Articles

Hamburg, Aiken County, South Carolina human settlement in United States of America

The ghost town of Hamburg, South Carolina, was once a thriving upriver market located in Edgefield District of the Piedmont. It was founded by Henry Shultz in 1821, across the Savannah River from Augusta, Georgia, in direct competition with that city. In its heyday, 60,000 bales of cotton worth $2,000,000 were brought by wagon to Hamburg each year. This cotton continued by pole boat or steam boat to the ports of Charleston or Savannah for subsequent shipment to manufacturers in New England or Europe. Hamburg lost business after Augusta completed its canal in 1848.

Frog war

In American railroading, a frog war occurs when a private railroad company attempts to cross the tracks of another, and this results in hostilities, with the courts usually getting involved, but often long after companies have taken the matter in their own hands and settled, with hordes of workers battling each other. It is named after the frog, the piece of track that allows the two tracks to join or cross and is usually part of a level junction or railroad switch.

The Augusta and Knoxville Railroad (A&K) was a railroad company that operated on 66 miles (106 km) of track between Augusta, Georgia, and Greenwood, South Carolina, from 1882 to 1886. It was merged with three other companies to form the Port Royal and Western Carolina Railway, which was reorganized in 1896 as the Charleston and Western Carolina Railway.

Area code 803

Area code 803 is the area code for most of central South Carolina. It is anchored by Columbia, the state capital. It also includes most of the South Carolina portions of the Charlotte and Augusta (Georgia) metropolitan areas.

Augusta metropolitan area Metropolitan Statistical Area in Georgia South Carolina, United States

The Augusta metropolitan area is a metropolitan area in the U.S. states of Georgia and South Carolina centered on the principal city of Augusta. The U.S. Office of Management and Budget, Census Bureau and other agencies define Augusta's Metropolitan Statistical Area, the Augusta-Richmond County, GA-SC Metropolitan Statistical Area, as comprising Richmond, Burke, Columbia, Lincoln, and McDuffie Counties in Georgia and Aiken and Edgefield Counties in South Carolina. As of the 2010 Census, the area had a population of 556,877, though a 2014 estimate of it was at 583,632.

The Charlotte and South Carolina Railroad began in 1852 and existed until 1869, when it was absorbed by Charlotte, Columbia and Augusta Railroad. The line ran from Charlotte, North Carolina, to Columbia, South Carolina, and was the first carrier to serve Mecklenburg County, North Carolina. The railroad was 110 miles (180 km) long and its track gauge was 5 ft.

The Blackville, Alston and Newberry Railroad was a railroad that served South Carolina in the latter part of the 19th century.

Horse Creek Valley

Horse Creek Valley is a geographic area along Horse Creek, a tributary of the Savannah River. It lies within present-day Aiken County, South Carolina. The area is alternately referred to as "Midland Valley". Rising near Vaucluse, South Carolina, Horse Creek enters the Savannah two miles downstream of downtown Augusta, Georgia. Other communities along Horse Creek include Graniteville, Warrenville, Gloverville, Langley, Burnettown, Bath, and Clearwater. While Horse Creek itself is rather insignificant, its potential for water power led to early examples of Southern industrialization, including a textile mill at Vaucluse (1830) and William Gregg's Graniteville Mill (1845). The textile industry continued to play a primary role until the Graniteville Train Derailment and final closure of the Graniteville Mill in 2006.

South Carolina Highway 19

South Carolina Highway 19 (SC 19) is a primary state highway in the U.S. state of South Carolina. It connects Aiken directly with the Savannah River Site and Edgefield via U.S. Route 25 (US 25).

Launched in 2012, The Aiken Railway is a Short Line Railroad operating 19 miles of track leased from Norfolk Southern in Southwestern South Carolina, in the United States. The leased track consists of 12.45 miles between Warrenville and Oakwood, SC, and 6.45 miles between Aiken and Seclay, SC. The Aiken Railway is a wholly owned subsidiary of Western Carolina Railway Service Corporation which also owns the Greenville & Western Railway.

The Aiken-Augusta Special was a named night train of the Southern Railway between New York City and Augusta, Georgia. Different from other long distance Southern Railway lines which tended to briefly go through the northwestern edge of South Carolina, this route went through the interior of the state. Its route marked the last directly north-south route between Charlotte, North Carolina and Columbia, South Carolina, and it marked one of the last long distance trains into Augusta, Georgia. The train began as the Augusta Special on October 24, 1915.

References

  1. Abandoned Rails, Croft to Edgefield Archived September 9, 2010, at the Wayback Machine .
  2. Abandoned Rails, Croft to Edgefield Archived September 9, 2010, at the Wayback Machine .