Georgia Railroad and Banking Company

The Georgia Railroad was among the first railroads in the state and operated until the 1980s. The impetus for the Georgia Railroad was the South Carolina Canal and Railroad Company, chartered on December 19, 1827, and opened in 1830. The Georgia Railroad was formally chartered on December 21, 1833, to build a road from Augusta to a point where it would connect with branches to Athens, Madison and Eatonton. The Georgia Railroad constructed branches to Athens and Madison but not Eatonton. The charter was later amended to extend the Madison line to Atlanta to connect with the Western & Atlantic Railroad. Work on the road started in Augusta in 1835, and it was completed in Greensboro in 1838, Athens in 1840, and Madison in 1841. The 171-mile-long line reached Atlanta in 1845. The first passengers would ride the train as far as the line extended, then transfer to horse-drawn coaches for the remainder of their trip. The cost of construction was nearly $3.3 million. It eventually merged into the Family Lines System.