Overview
Wills Valley History by Carl Anderson
Originally chartered by the State of Alabama in 1852, this railroad was
to run from some point on the Alabama Tennessee River Railroad (near Gadsden,
Ala.), through Georgia to connect with the Georgia Tennessee Railroad
near Lookout Mountain. Eventually the railroad would consolidate with
other railroads to lengthen the line from Meridian, Mississippi to Chattanooga,
Tennessee.
The Georgia portion was chartered by the Georgia Legislature on 31 January
1854. The road was to have the same rights and privileges as the Alabama
charter which had a capital of $300,000 divided into shares of fifty dollars
each. In February 1860, the State of Alabama loaned $75,000 to the Georgia
section of the road of which William 0. Winston was president. By mid
1863, the road was completed from Trenton, Georgia to Wauhatchie, Tennessee,
about sixteen miles. The Wills Valley Railroad leased the track of the
Nashville and Chattanooga Railroad from Wauhatchie to Chattanooga, about
six miles.
After the Civil War, John M. Courtney and William L. Raynor bought the
franchise. John M. Courtney became president with George W. Harris as
superintendent. During 1868 J.C. Stanton and D.N. Stanton bought the Wills
Valley franchise. Included in the franchise was a grant of land, about
one million acres of land in Alabama, but the grant had lapsed during
the War. The State of Alabama had authorized the two to take over control
of the North East and South West Alabama Railroad. On 18 November 1868,
the mergers of both lines was formed into the Alabama and Chattanooga
Railroad with D.N. Stanton as president. In April 1869, the two were able
to get the land grant restored by the Unites States Congress. At that
time, the line was to run from Chattanooga, Tennessee to Meridian, Mississippi,
a distance of about three hundred miles.
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