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 Railroad — Wilmington & Raleigh (later Weldon)
   The first railroad company to operate in North Carolina was the Wilmington & Raleigh Railroad (renamed the Wilmington & Weldon Railroad in 1854). Chartered in 1834 to build a railroad from Wilmington to Raleigh, the company won financial backing from Wilmington residents, but


  Locomotives
  Map of Railroad
  History & Officers




    		 not from Raleigh business interests. So the Wilmington stockholders petitioned the legislature in 1836 to change the route to run from Wilmington to Weldon in Halifax County — at 161 1/2 miles it would become the world's longest railroad when opened. It would connect with the Richmond and Petersburg Railroad which had pushed its line nine miles into North Carolina. The change was approved. Construction began on October 25, 1836.
   The State of North Carolina retained stock ownership in a minority portion of the railroad, and would name three directors to the board each year.
   The Wilmington & Raleigh Railroad completed its full route on March 9, 1840. The track was the North Carolina standard of 4 feet, 8-and-one-half inches — the same as the connecting Petersburg Railroad. Most railroads in the South at that time used a 5-foot track.
   The Wilmington & Raleigh Railroad would reach profitable operations in 1850.

Officers & Board
Presidents Edward Bishop Dudley 1836 - 1837
1841 - 1847
  Gen. James Owen 1837 - 1841
  Gen. Alexander McRae 1847 - 1853
  William Shepperd Ashe 1854 - 1862
  S. D. Wallace 1862 - 1865
  Robert Rufus Bridgers 1866 - 1880s
Superintendent & Chief Engineer Alexander MacRae, supt.
Walter Gwynn, chief engineer		 1836 - 
1836 - 1840+
  Sewall L. Fremont 1854 - 1871
  James P. Robertson, supt. -1852-
  John F. Divine 1890s
Secretary James S. Green 1836 - 1861
  L. H. De Rosset 1862 - 1863
  J. W. Thompson 1864 - 1865+
Treasurer James S. Green 1836 - 1861
  J. W. Thompson 1863 - 1865+
General Counsel George Davis 1861 - 1865+
Clerk Stephen D. Wallace -1852-
Company Directors    
  Alexander Anderson 1836 - 
  James S. Battle 1836 - 
  William S. Battle 1865
  J. D. Bellamy 1852 - 1866+
  W. C. Bettencourt 1861
  Robert Rufus Bridgers 1863 - 1864
  R. H. Cowan 1836 - 
  A. J. DeRosset Jr. 1852 - 1865+
  P. K. Dickinson 1836 - 
1852 - 1865+
  B. Flanner 1852, 1862 - 1865+
  E. P. Hall 1852 -
  Andrew Joyner 1836 -
  E. Kidder 1863 - 1865+
  Aaron Lazarus 1836 - 
  Walker Meares 1865
  William B. Meares 1836 - 
  W. D. Mosely 1836 - 
  James Owen 1836 - 
  W. W. Pierce 1861
  Gilbert Potter 1852 - 1861
  Thomas H. Wright 1836 - 
  William A. Wright 1852
State Directors (where identified)  
  W. C. Bettencourt 1852
  W. W. Brickell 1863 - 1865+
  G. W. Collier 1863 - 1865+
  W. K. Lane 1852 - 1861
  L. H. B. Whitaker 1852 - 1861
  William A. Wright 1861 - 1865+
     



 
   Promissory Note from the 
   Wilmington & Raleigh Railroad

 
   Original station in Weldon for the  
   Wilmington & Raleigh Railroad

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