First Sunday Lecture - The Early History of the Western & Atlantic Railroad, 1836-1870

The building and early history of the Western & Atlantic Railroad (“The State Line”), now Smyrna's CSX line, was the largest public works project undertaken by the State of Georgia in the 19th century. It remains, moreover, to this day one of only a handful of state-owned American railroads.

This slide show and lecture by Dr. Marchione examined the reasons the W&A was built; the difficulties it had attracting private capital; its troubled 15 year long construction phase; the line’s essential role in fostering the development of the city of Atlanta; the strategic importance of the W&A during the Civil War’s 1864 Atlanta Campaign; and, finally, the controversial Reconstruction phase of its history that culminated in the line’s 1870 transfer from state administration to private management.

The First Sunday Lecture Series is sponsored by the Friends of Smyrna Library.