The Detroit and Pontiac Railroad is a defunct

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 ...

which operated in the

state of Michigan Michigan () is a state in the Great Lakes region of the upper Midwestern United States. With a population of nearly 10.12 million and an area of nearly , Michigan is the 10th-largest state by population, the 11th-largest by area, and the ...

during the mid-nineteenth century. It was the sixth railroad to receive a charter from Michigan, then a

territory A territory is an area of land, sea, or space, particularly belonging or connected to a country, person, or animal. In international politics, a territory is usually either the total area from which a state may extract power resources or a ...

, and the second, after the Erie & Kalamazoo, to actually operate

train In rail transport, a train (from Old French , from Latin , "to pull, to draw") is a series of connected vehicles that run along a railway track and Passenger train, transport people or Rail freight transport, freight. Trains are typically pul ...

s. The first attempt to connect

Detroit Detroit ( , ; , ) is the largest city in the U.S. state of Michigan. It is also the largest U.S. city on the United States–Canada border, and the seat of government of Wayne County. The City of Detroit had a population of 639,111 at th ...

and

Pontiac Pontiac may refer to: *Pontiac (automobile), a car brand *Pontiac (Ottawa leader) ( – 1769), a Native American war chief Places and jurisdictions Canada *Pontiac, Quebec, a municipality ** Apostolic Vicariate of Pontiac, now the Roman Catholic D ...

by railroad had come on July 31, 1830; when the

Michigan Territorial Council The Michigan Territorial Council, known formally as the Legislative Council of the Territory of Michigan, was the legislative body of the Territory of Michigan from 1824 to 1835, when it was succeeded by the Michigan Legislature in anticipation o ...

granted a charter to the

Pontiac and Detroit Railroad Pontiac may refer to: *Pontiac (automobile), a car brand *Pontiac (Ottawa leader) ( – 1769), a Native American war chief Places and jurisdictions Canada *Pontiac, Quebec, a municipality **Apostolic Vicariate of Pontiac, now the Roman Catholic Di ...

. This was the first such charter granted both in Michigan and in the

region In geography, regions, otherwise referred to as zones, lands or territories, are areas that are broadly divided by physical characteristics (physical geography), human impact characteristics (human geography), and the interaction of humanity and t ...

.Farmer (1884), 893. Nothing came of the Pontiac & Detroit, so in 1834 the state granted a new charter to the Detroit and Pontiac Railroad. After four years the D&P began operation over a modest line, spurred on by a $100,000 loan from the state. The railroad finally reached Pontiac in 1843, thirteen years after the state first granted a charter for that purpose.Baxter, 528. On April 21, 1855, the D&P was consolidated with the Oakland and Ottawa Rail Road to form the Detroit and Milwaukee Railway and ceased to exist as an independent company. In 1878, the Detroit and Milwaukee Railway was reorganized as the

Detroit, Grand Haven and Milwaukee Railway The Detroit, Grand Haven and Milwaukee Railway is a defunct railroad which operated in the US state of Michigan during the late 19th and early 20th centuries. Itself the product of several consolidations in the 1870s, it became part of the Grand Tr ...

Notes

References

* * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Detroit Pontiac Railroad Railway companies established in 1834 Railway companies disestablished in 1855 Defunct Michigan railroads History of Detroit Pontiac, Michigan Predecessors of the Grand Trunk Railway American companies established in 1834 1834 establishments in Michigan Territory