BURKE, JAMES C., Ph.D. North Carolina’s First Railroads, A Study in Historical Geography. (2008) Directed by Dr. Jeffrey C. Patton. 438 pp. Part One of this study is a historical narrative that addresses the political, economic, and technological factors associated with the building of the first railroads in North Carolina, and their relationship to the railroad in Virginia. Both the Raleigh & Gaston Rail Road and the Wilmington & Raleigh Rail Road were completed in 1840. The latter did not run to Raleigh, as was the original intention when it was incorporated in 1833, but rather it terminated near the Weldon Toll Bridge on the Roanoke River where it connected to the Portsmouth & Roanoke Rail Road. The Raleigh & Gaston Rail Road, incorporated in 1835, connected to the Greensville & Roanoke Rail Road, a branch line of the Petersburg Rail Road, by its own bridge over the Roanoke approximately twelve miles west of Weldon. The two North Carolina railroads lacked the benefit of a connection that would bring them into a network. This part of the study concludes with the assessment that trade competition between the commercial centers of Norfolk and Petersburg adversely influenced early railroad development in North Carolina. Part Two of this study presents two spatial hypotheses. The first advances the position that early railroad development in North Carolina would mirror railroad development in southern Virginia to form an alignment of commercial centers north-to-south rather than east-to-west within physiographic regions. The second hypothesis suggests that the early railroads in North Carolina could have intersected north-to-south and east-to-west to form a productive network across physiographic regions. Of the many railroads proposed in North Carolina during the 1830s, the Waynesborough and Raleigh route seems the most likely component of an alternative network that would support the second hypothesis, if its practicality can be demonstrated by a plausible model. The empirical model prepared for this study replicates the conventions of a period railroad survey utilizing modern geographic tools and resources. The analysis of the resulting estimate supports the proposition that this railroad could have been built at that time had the interests in Raleigh and Wilmington agreed to one railroad to the Roanoke. The viability of other options suggests the possible that the rail network in North Carolina could have evolved differently under the same conditions. NORTH CAROLINA’S FIRST RAILROADS, A STUDY IN HISTORICAL GEOGRAPHY by James C. Burke A Dissertation Submitted to the Faculty of The Graduate School at The University of North Carolina at Greensboro in Partial Fulfillment of the Requirements for the Degree Doctor of Philosophy Greensboro 2008 Approved by ____________________________ Committee Chair In Memory of My Mother, Anne Rhodes Burke ii APPROVAL PAGE This dissertation has been approved by the following committee of the Faculty of The Graduate School of The University of North Carolina at Greensboro. Committee Chair ____________________________________ Committee Members ____________________________________ ____________________________________ ____________________________________ ____________________________________ ____________________________ Date of Acceptance by Committee ____________________________ Date of Final Oral Examination iii ACKNOWLEDGMENTS Dr. Maureen Basedow, an archaeology professor at the University of North Carolina at Wilmington, initiated my research on the early railroads of North Carolina by suggesting that I map the surviving structures of the site of the railroad complex at Wilmington and provide the general dates of their construction. This was a particularly attractive assignment for the reason that my father, Edmund E. Burke, had frequently taken me to the facility as a child during the twilight years of its operation; and as an undergraduate in the 1970s, I had frequented the site before most of its structures had been demolished. After completing this assignment, I had a strong desire to continue the research. Under the guidance of Dr. W. Frank Ainsley of the Earth Sciences department at UNC- Wilmington, I began preparing a survey of the existing railroad-related structures and architecture along the 161½ miles of the route of the Wilmington & Weldon Railroad. Dr. Ainsley has maintained an unflagging interest in my research since that time, and I am honored the he chose to serve as the outside member of my dissertation committee. Upon entering the Historic Preservation program at the University of North Carolina at Greensboro in 2002, Dr. Jo Ramsay Leimenstoll encouraged me to continue my research by exploring the relationship between railroad development in Eastern North Carolina and the diffusion of stylistic innovations in domestic architecture within the rail corridor. This research served as a foundation for preparing several chapters and appendices presented here. iv In 2004, I was granted the privilege of being accepted into the Ph.D. Program in the Department of Geography at UNC-Greensboro, where I encountered a faculty that led me to expand the scope of my research to embrace the many spatial aspects of the topic. I begin by thanking my committee. Dr. Elizabeth Nelson devoted a considerable portion of her time to reviewing the maps in my dissertation, and offering her editorial skills to its final preparation. Dr. Zhi-Jun Liu introduced me to the area of GIS programming, and rekindled my interest in mathematics. Dr. Phillip Royall encouraged me to expand my inquiry into the realm of physical geography, a direction that had a profound influence upon the changing of my original research design. Dr. Jeffery Patton served as chairman of my dissertation, and I greatly appreciate the many enlightening four-hour meetings he set aside to discuss the many drafts of my work, and provide sound advice from the preparation of my research design to the completion of the dissertation. Other member of the faculty not connected with my dissertation offered useful input, including Dr. Gordon Bennett, Dr. Selima Sultana, and Dr. Keith Debbage. I am grateful to the department for securing an assistantship and tuition wavier in 2007. Many individuals and institutions have aided my research over the years. I would like to express my thanks to Donna Kelly in the Historical Publications Section of the Division of Historical Resources in the Office of Archives and History in Raleigh that facilitated permission to use maps from North Carolina in Maps by W.P. Cumming. Beverly Tetterton and Joseph Sheppard of the New Hanover County Library provided copies of useful maps, and most of stockholder reports of the Wilmington & Weldon Rail Road Company referenced in this study. Sadie Hood and the staff of the Wilmington v Railroad Museum gave me unlimited access to their archives and collection of artifacts. Through their assistance, I gained insight into the early railroad technology and the day- to-day operation of the Wilmington & Raleigh Rail Road. I appreciate the assistance of Habte M. Teclemariam, Senior Reference Librarian of the Geography and Map Division of The Library of Congress in locating Hamilton Fulton’s Plan of Croatan and Roanoke Sounds, a copy of which is included herein. I also acknowledge the assistance of Traci Thompson of the Braswell Library, Elaine Sandberg of the South Carolina State Library, Molley French of the Charleston County Public Library, Rhonda Koenig of the Wayne County Public Library, the staff of the North Carolina State Archives, the staff and volunteers at the North Carolina Transport Museum at Spencer, and the staff of the Richmond Public Library. F. Donald Hickman applied his skills to the grueling task of proofing multiple drafts of this work, along with offering valuable editorial criticism, encouragement, and sound advice in dealing with the less pleasant moments of this endeavor. I appreciate his tireless work, often proofing different versions of the same chapter many times over. Cynthia A. Johnson assisted me with field study, and several of her photographs appear as figures in the present volume. I am appreciative of the generosity of Gregg Turner for sending a copy of his book A short History of Florida Railroads, to Bob Cooke of the Civil War Roundtable for sharing copies of his articles on the history of the Wilmington & Weldon Railroad during the Civil War, and to Dr. Doug Rader, who shared his research on the deeds of the Slocomb Plantation in Dudley, North Carolina. My conversations with George Savage of Tarboro enhanced my understanding of the vi transportation and economy of rural Edgecombe County during the late 19th and early 20th century. Trillian Hosticka offered her skills in proofing early drafts of two chapters of this work. I feel fortunate to have had the benefit of support from my friends and family including John E. Best, Mary Hall-Brown, Edmund Burke, Patrick Burke, Robert Burke, Ernesto Ferreri, Victor Galloway, Donald Hickman, Almira Johnson, Cynthia A. Johnson, Clyde Rollins Sr., Clyde Rollins, Jr., the late Elizabeth Rollins, Dr. Michael Wentworth, Roberta Williams, Chanda Wynne, and the late Dr. John L. Zintsmaster, vii PREFACE Throughout the preparation of this work, the author considered several different approaches to organizing its content. Ordinarily, empirical studies in geography follow the traditional form of introduction of the hypotheses, a review of the literature, a description of the research methodology, analysis of the acquired