Council City and Solomon River Railroad is an abandoned

railroad Rail transport (also known as train transport) is a means of transport that transfers passengers and goods on wheeled vehicles running on rails, which are incorporated in tracks. In contrast to road transport, where the vehicles run on a pre ...

in the U.S. state of

Alaska Alaska ( ; russian: Аляска, Alyaska; ale, Alax̂sxax̂; ; ems, Alas'kaaq; Yup'ik: ''Alaskaq''; tli, Anáaski) is a state located in the Western United States on the northwest extremity of North America. A semi-exclave of the U.S., ...

. Its name refers to Solomon River and the city of

Council A council is a group of people who come together to consult, deliberate, or make decisions. A council may function as a legislature, especially at a town, city or county/shire level, but most legislative bodies at the state/provincial or natio ...

in the Nome Census Area. The railway operated from 1903 to 1907. The remains of the railroad at Mile 31 of the Nome-Council Highway, comprising three locomotives, two flat cars and a boiler, were listed as an historic district on the

National Register of Historic Places The National Register of Historic Places (NRHP) is the United States federal government's official list of districts, sites, buildings, structures and objects deemed worthy of preservation for their historical significance or "great artistic v ...

in 2001.

Western Alaska Construction Company

Organized under the laws of

New Jersey New Jersey is a state in the Mid-Atlantic and Northeastern regions of the United States. It is bordered on the north and east by the state of New York; on the east, southeast, and south by the Atlantic Ocean; on the west by the Delaware ...

, the Western Alaska Construction Co., with a capital stock of $1,000,000, organized for the purpose of constructing the Council City & Solomon River R. R. and extensions. The company was composed principally of Chicago businessmen. The company offices were in Chicago, with fiscal agents in

New York City New York, often called New York City or NYC, is the List of United States cities by population, most populous city in the United States. With a 2020 population of 8,804,190 distributed over , New York City is also the L ...

. Its officers were: * John R. Bowman, president * J. Warren Dickson, vice-president and general manager * William F. Krohmer, treasurer * Jacob A. Freund, secretary Its stockholders were J. A. Freund, Samuel P. Herron, William F. Krohmer, John Ryeerson Bowman, and J. Warren Dickson.

History

The railroad was among the important enterprises inaugurated in the summer of 1903. Before the close of the season, about of standard-gage track had been laid. The Western Alaska Construction Co. asserted that the mouth of the Solomon River, the starting point of their road, was the only point on the south coast of the Seward Peninsula which had a sheltered harbor convenient for the loading and unloading of freight and the protection of it in all types of weather. They proposed to locate the tidewater terminus here, and build the railroad northward and westward, penetrating the most important gold fields of Alaska, the

Cape Nome Cape Nome is a headland on the Seward Peninsula in the U.S. state of Alaska. It is situated on the northern shore of Norton Sound, to the east of Nome also on Norton Sound. It is delimited by the Norton Sound to the south, Hastings Creek on th ...

fields. Running from Solomon City, the Council City & Solomon River R. R. was to skirt the Solomon river, passing hundreds of mining camps, en route to Council City, the first terminus of the road. According to the report of the Chief of the Bureau of Statistics at Washington, Council City is the general distributing point of the Upper Niukluk basin. From Solomon City to Council City the distance is approximately 50 miles; from that point the railroad was projected to connect all the principal mineral producing areas and centres of population and mining, including the line to

Grantley Harbor Grantley Harbor (native name, Kaviak) is a waterway located at the bay of Port Clarence, Alaska, on the Seward Peninsula in the U.S. state of Alaska. The inner harbor at the entrance to the northeast corner of the bay was named after Lord Grantley ...

, Port Clarence, Good Hope bay, and Nome, thus "gridironing" the peninsula. Initial cost estimates were from $8,000 to $12,000 per mile. The company's surveys were executed by engineers who were official surveyors of the United States government, Paul Heinze, chief engineer, and Hermann Heinze, assistant engineer. The company's rights of way included 100 feet on each side of the centre line of their tracks, with 40 acres as terminal station grounds at each end of the road; plus 20 acres for station grounds for each 10 miles of track. This acreage totaled 13,000 acres. The route described in the articles of incorporation was from a point near the mouth of Solomon River adjacent to Solomon City to a point adjacent to Council City. The company filed two maps of its preliminary line from Council City along Fox River, right branch Solomon River to Solomon City, 50.79 miles (filed February, 1903); and one from Nome City to Wheeler, 20 miles (filed June, 1904); also one map of definite location from point on Norton Sound near Dickson up Solomon River, 20 miles (filed January 3, 1905). New map of same line filed December 20, 1906.

References

External links

* {{National Register of Historic Places 1903 establishments in Alaska 1907 disestablishments in Alaska Defunct Alaska railroads National Register of Historic Places in Nome Census Area, Alaska Historic American Engineering Record in Alaska Historic districts on the National Register of Historic Places in Alaska Seward Peninsula Standard gauge railways in the United States Transportation in Unorganized Borough, Alaska

Western Alaska Construction Company

History

See also

References

External links