The Lake Wimico and St. Joseph Canal and Railroad was the first

steam railroad Various terms are used for passenger railway lines and equipment; the usage of these terms differs substantially between areas: Rapid transit A rapid transit system is an electric railway characterized by high speed (~) and rapid acceleratio ...

Florida Florida is a state located in the Southeastern region of the United States. Florida is bordered to the west by the Gulf of Mexico, to the northwest by Alabama, to the north by Georgia, to the east by the Bahamas and Atlantic Ocean, and to ...

and one of the first in the U.S., opening in 1836. With the collapse of the town of St. Joseph, the railroad was abandoned by 1842. The Lake Wimico and St. Joseph Canal Company was chartered by

Legislative Council of the Territory of Florida The Legislative Council of the Territory of Florida, often referred to as the Florida Territorial Council or Florida Territorial Legislative Council, was the legislative body governing the American territory of Florida (Florida Territory) before st ...

in 1835, and was renamed in 1836 to the Lake Wimico and St. Joseph Canal and Railroad Company. Disputed land ownership had caused many residents of Apalachicola, the port at the mouth of the

Apalachicola River The Apalachicola River is a river, approximately 160 mi (180 km) long in the state of Florida. The river's large watershed, known as the ACF River Basin, drains an area of approximately into the Gulf of Mexico. The distance to its fa ...

, to start the new town of

St. Joseph Joseph (; el, Ἰωσήφ, translit=Ioséph) was a 1st-century Jewish man of Nazareth who, according to the canonical Gospels, was married to Mary, the mother of Jesus, and was the legal father of Jesus. The Gospels also name some brothers ...

St. Joseph Bay St. Joseph Bay is a bay on the Gulf Coast of the U.S. state of Florida. The bay is located in Gulf County between Apalachicola and Panama City. Port St. Joe is located on St. Joseph Bay. St. Joseph Bay is bounded on the east by the mainland, o ...

. The original plan was to dig a canal from the Apalachicola River to St. Joseph to allow steamboats to connect directly with ocean-going ships. Before excavation on the canal began, the company decided to instead build a railroad. Construction of the roadbed began in October, 1835, before the company's charter was modified to allow it to build a railroad. An long rail line to Columbus Bayou (renamed Depot Creek) on Lake Wimico was completed in March, 1836. Horses and mules hauled the first trains, but two steam locomotives were delivered later in the year, and became the first steam power used on a railroad in Florida. Lake Wimico was connected to the Apalachicola River by the Jackson River. The success of the railroad was limited by difficulties steamboats faced in reaching the docks at Depot Creek. The Jackson River had many hazards to navigation, and Lake Wimico was often too shallow when water levels were low. To provide a better connection for the steamboats, a new rail line was built from St. Joseph to a point on the Apalachicola River near present-day Wewahitchka, from St. Joseph. Construction on the new line began in 1837, and was completed in October, 1839. The town of Iola was founded at the terminus of the railroad. Besides the railroad terminal and a couple of warehouses, Iola had a steam sawmill, a gristmill, a post office, and a hotel. A yellow fever epidemic devastated St.Joseph in 1841, drastically reducing the population and commerce of the city. A hurricane later that year destroyed the railroad's wharf at St. Joseph. The railroad went bankrupt and its movable equipment was auctioned off in 1842. Both St. Joseph and Iola were abandoned. The railroad was constructed with a

track gauge In rail transport, track gauge (in American English, alternatively track gage) is the distance between the two rails of a railway track. All vehicles on a rail network must have wheelsets that are compatible with the track gauge. Since many d ...

, using wood rails with strap iron on top. The rail line extended onto a wharf in St.Joseph Bay, and onto docks at Depot Creek and Iola, to permit direct transfer of cargo between rail cars and shipping. The West Florida and Alabama Railroad, incorporated in 1883, attempted to revive the roadbed, but it failed. In the 1920s the portion of the roadbed between Wewahitchka and White City in Gulf County became part of the Beeline Highway, a

national auto trail The system of auto trails was an informal network of marked routes that existed in the United States and Canada in the early part of the 20th century. Marked with colored bands on utility poles, the trails were intended to help travellers in ...

, and now part of State Road 71. In 1910, the

Apalachicola Northern Railroad The Apalachicola Northern Railroad was a short-line railroad which operated in the Florida Panhandle. It owned and operated a between Port Saint Joe, Florida, and Chattahoochee, Florida, with a short spur to Apalachicola, Florida. It was founded ...

used part of the old Lake Wimico and St. Joseph roadbed for a branch line to Port St.Joe.Gregg 2003: 15

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References

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Lake Wimico Saint Joseph Canal Railroad Company Defunct Florida railroads Railway companies established in 1835 Railway companies disestablished in 1842 5 ft gauge railways in the United States American companies established in 1835 1835 establishments in Florida Territory American companies disestablished in 1842