Experimental Railroad - Raleigh, North Carolina [Warning: Shortest post thus far! Hah!]

West side of North Wilmington between East Edenton and New Bern Place in Downtown Raleigh

Ok, so this may be my shortest post ever. My bad guys.

The Experimental Railroad! It was a horse-drawn railroad created in 1833 mainly to move stone from a quarry to where the Capitol building now stands. The quarry was located 1.25 miles southeast of the sign, and according to a quick view of Google Maps, was located next to what is now the state's Correctional Institute for Women (makes sense, I think). It's considered one of the first railroads in operation in the state. it was not the first experimental one created; that honor goes to an experimental railroad that the NCGA chartered in 1830 across many railroads including the Fayetteville Rail Road Company. That railroad went from Fayetteville to Campbellton further up the Cape Fear River, and was also horse-drawn. Campbellton had joined with Crossed Creek to create Fayetteville in 1783, so I don't know what Campbellton this is, unless the railroad went to where Campbellton used to be (Campbellton has its own marker, so more on that later!). Regardless, while this Fayetteville Experimental Railroad was chartered first, it didn't open until 1834 for use, after the Raleigh Experimental Railroad started operating. While these two were the first in the state, they were only experimental railroads, and many official, longer railroads were built across the state chartered under various companies until the industry consolidated due to market forces (i.e., the rise of the car as main form of transport).

And that's all I know! If you or others know more, let me know! This is a bit of a stub, but it's related to a couple of other road markers, so I'll be cross-linking this over time.

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A Road to the Past

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