A Railroad For Norfolk
Although railroads emerged as a new transport technology in the 1830s, and a line of the Portsmouth and Roanoke Railroad reached nearby Portsmouth in 1835, Norfolk was to wait 20 more years for a railroad line. In 1851, the authority to build the line was finally obtained followed many years of lobbying by Norfolk area politicians who were attempting to overcome opposition in the Virginia General Assembly. The representatives of inland port cities such as Richmond and Petersburg correctly foresaw that building the new railroad would lessen their role in export shipping trade. Dr. Francis Mallory (1807–1860) a former Representative in the United States Congress and later a member of the Virginia General Assembly was named the railroad's first president.
Read more about this topic: Norfolk And Petersburg Railroad
Famous quotes containing the word railroad:
“This I saw when waking late,
Going by at a railroad rate,
Looking through wreaths of engine smoke
Far into the lives of other folk.”
—Robert Frost (1874–1963)