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The Greenville and Columbia Railroad was a 〔(Confederate Railroads - Greenville & Columbia )〕 gauge railroad that served South Carolina in the 19th century. ==Beginnings== The line traces its history back to 1845, when Greenville, South Carolina-area leaders Benjamin Perry, Waddy Thompson Jr., John T. Coleman and Joel Poinsett called a public meeting, this one presided over by Vardry McBee. The goal was to create enthusiasm and collect subscriptions for a rail line to the northern and southern parts of the state. With a committee of 30 potential subscribers, they agreed to seek a preliminary charter for a Greenville and Columbia Railroad, with the understanding that they raise at least $300,000 in subscriptions within a year.〔(Columbia Railroad had Checkered Start, ''Greenville News'', March 23, 2005 )〕 Unsuccessful, the group renewed their charter the following year. The plan was to build a 109-mile line up the east side of the Saluda River through Newberry, South Carolina, and Laurens, South Carolina, to Greenville. The 30 commissioners sought subscribers from Columbia, South Carolina, and all the surrounding counties. They were successful but when stockholders met in May 1847 in Columbia, those from the capital city and from the Abbeville and Anderson districts, urged by local property owner and famed politician John C. Calhoun, who wanted a different route, voted to build a 147-mile line on the west side of the river with its terminus in Anderson.〔(Columbia Railroad had Checkered Start, ''Greenville News'', March 23, 2005 )〕 Greenville stockholders, and especially McBee, the largest single subscriber, cried foul. They wanted their money back, but the majority stockholders refused. So the Greenville contingent chartered the Greenville Railroad Co. and threatened to build a railroad from "Dr. Brown's place," near modern-day Belton, South Carolina, directly to Greenville, to shift freight and passengers away from Anderson.〔(Columbia Railroad had Checkered Start, ''Greenville News'', March 23, 2005 )〕 McBee also put up $50,000 of his own money to make the subscription possible. The other stockholders reluctantly agreed. McBee's hand-picked candidate, John Belton O'Neall, was elected president of the line.〔(Southern Historical Collection, McBee Family Papers, 1754-1937 )〕 抄文引用元・出典: フリー百科事典『 ウィキペディア（Wikipedia）』 ■ウィキペディアで「Greenville and Columbia Railroad」の詳細全文を読む スポンサード リンク
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