Illinois River Railroad Company

State: Illinois

The Illinois General Assembly chartered the Illinois River Railroad Company in 1853 and authorized it to construct a railroad from Jacksonville to La Salle by way of Virginia, Bath, and Pekin, Illinois. In 1854, the Illinois General Assembly amended the railroad's charter, authorizing it to construct a bridge over the Illinois River and construct and operate a branch railroad called the Mississippi and Illinois River Railroad running from Bath to Rock Island via Lewistown, Knoxville, and Henderson, Illinois. In 1859, the General Assembly also authorized the railroad to construct and operate a branch railroad from Virginia to Arenzville, Illinois. By September 1860, the railroad's bridge over the Illinois River was a few months from completion and its line from Pekin to Virginia was finished and fully operational.

“An Act to Construct a Railroad from Jacksonville, in Morgan County, to La Salle, in La Salle County,” 11 February 1853, Private Laws of Illinois (1853), 53; “An Act to Amend an Act Entitled 'An Act to Construct a Railroad from Jacksonville, in Morgan County, to La Salle, in La Salle County,'” 1 March 1854, Laws of Illinois (1854), 207-8; "An Act to Further Amend the Charter of the Illinois River Railroad Company," 14 February 1859, Private Laws of Illinois (1859), 459; Illinois Daily State Journal (Springfield), 7 September 1860, 2:3.