St. Clair County, MO Railroads
Missouri History Encyclopedia, 1901:
St. Clair County Railroads – The first railroad projected through St. Clair
County was in 1849. On March 10th of that year a law was enacted incorporating
the Missouri & White River Railroad Company with a capital of $3,000,000. This
company was authorized to construct a railroad “commencing in the town of
Independence, in Jackson County, and running thence to White River, at the most
convenient point on said river, at or near the town of Forsyth, in Taney
County”, etc. There were directors of the company named in the law creating it
from each of the counties through which it was supposed the railroad would pass.
Those from St. Clair were Waldo P. Johnson, Hugh Barnett and William C.
Douglass. The annual elections of directors was required to take place in
Osceola on the first Monday in May of each year, from which it may be fairly
inferred that Osceola was to be the location of the general offices and
management. So far is known, this company failed to do anything toward the
construction of the proposed railroad, and the charter was permitted to lapse.
In 1860 the Legislature incorporated the Tebo & Neosho Railroad Company, and
William L. Vaughan, a prominent citizen of St. Clair County was named as one of
the directors. This company was to construct a railroad “commencing at any point
on the Pacific Railroad (now the Missouri Pacific) between the Laramie River and
Muddy Creek, in Pettis County, thence to a point on the State line between the
north west corner of Jasper County and the south east corner of McDonald
County”. This company was making preparations to build when the Civil War broke
out. After the war it resumed operations, making its beginning point Sedalia.
The director named from St. Clair County was killed during the war, and his
place was filled by someone from another county. The railroad was constructed
from Sedalia to Windsor by July 1870. Then the Tebo & Neosho Railroad Company
was absorbed by the Missouri, Kansas & Texas Railway Company.
Meanwhile the route was changed so as to go from Sedalia to Fort Scott. The
railroad by the new route was completed in the winter of 1870. St. Clair County
obtained only a few miles of it, across the north west corner, and one station,
Appleton City, which has since become a very flourishing town. The Tebo & Neosho
Railroad Company, above referred to had a very comprehensive charter, which
authorized to extend branches into any county in the State. Before its
absorption and consequent disappearance it projected two branches northwesterly
and southeasterly from Clinton. The latter was called the Clinton & Memphis
branch, and was to run in the direction of Memphis, Tennessee to the southern
line of the state. The route lay through St. Clair County, amongst others. The
charter of this company also permitted the county courts of the various counties
through which the railroad or its branches might be projected to subscribe to
the capital stock thereof, and to issues bonds to pay for the same, and no vote
of the people was required to sanction it.
St. Clair County, through its county court, issued $250,000 in bonds to the
Clinton & Memphis branch of the Tebo & Neosho Railroad Company in payment for
2500 shares of its stock for which it had subscribed. This was done in the fall
of 1870. A company, formed by the consolidation of the two branches, and known
as the Kansas City, Memphis & Mobile Railroad Company, after laying a roadbed
declared bankruptcy; the roadbed constructed by it was sold, and after some
years came into the hands of John I. Blair, of Blairstown, New Jersey. Using
what was left of this roadbed, Mr. Blair, as promoter of the Kansas City,
Osceola & Southern Railway Company, completed the railroad from Clinton to
Osceola south to a connection with a branch of the St. Louis & San Francisco
Railroad Company, then leased the entire road to the Fresco Company, which is
now operating it, giving St. Clair County through trains passing from Kansas
City to Galveston.
In 1885, the Kansas City, Fort Scott & Memphis Railway Company constructed what
is known as the Clinton branch, from Olathe, Kansas to Ash Grove, in Greene
County. This passes through St. Clair County and the county seat, giving, by
connection at Springfield, through transit to Memphis, Birmingham and New
Orleans. The entire railway mileage in the county is 63.56 miles. The assessed
valuation in the county is $3,462,985.
Thomas M. Johnson