Pennsylvania, colonial and federal : a history, 1608-1903 . inclined to aid such undertakingswith appropriations from the pul)lic funds. In connection with the principal work of constructing thePennsylvania canal it became necessary to build two lines of rail-road, one from Philadelphia to Columbia on the Susquehannariver, and another across the Alleghany mountains. This greathighway of trafific was designed to cross the State from east towest and traversed its richest and most thickly populated a railroad would have followed the same general course,hence would have been regar
Pennsylvania, colonial and federal : a history, 1608-1903 . inclined to aid such undertakingswith appropriations from the pul)lic funds. In connection with the principal work of constructing thePennsylvania canal it became necessary to build two lines of rail-road, one from Philadelphia to Columbia on the Susquehannariver, and another across the Alleghany mountains. This greathighway of trafific was designed to cross the State from east towest and traversed its richest and most thickly populated a railroad would have followed the same general course,hence would have been regarded as a competing enterprise andone which, if carried into operation, would have taken businessfrom the State system of canals. Thus it was that railroad enter-])rises were compelled to await the time when it became necessaryto sell the system of iniblic works and supersede the old slowhighways of traffic with the modern and more efficient railroad. 304 \ w v WIXFIELD SCOTT HAXCOCK Etched for this work by Albert RosenthalFrom the photograph by Gutekunst. /,,,/f -/• -y ? ^j.^..vA--t»r^. y/t:,/^->fy? .,y^,. ,.^,..,. ....,;,. yi(,/^.///r?. Internal Impnjvements Bnt in the face of these eml)arrassments Pennsylvania was notslow in following the example of other States in railroad first effective act to incorporate a railroad company was passedMarch 31, 1823, and authorized John Stevens and his associatesto build and operate a line of railroad from Philadelphia to Co-lumbia. The company, however, did little toward the constructionof its road, and the work ultimately was completed by the Stateand was operated as a part of its system of public works. At theend of tlie year 1830 charters had been granted to twenty-eightrailroad companies, and in 1831 eleven others were incorporatedand authorized to build railroads. One of the more prominent ofthese was the old Philadelphia, Germantown and Norristown rail-road, of which five miles were completed in 1832. In 1836,accor
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