The Lexington and Ohio Railroad was the first

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. The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 states, a federal district, five major unincorporated territori ...

Commonwealth of Kentucky Kentucky ( , ), officially the Commonwealth of Kentucky, is a state in the Southeastern region of the United States and one of the states of the Upper South. It borders Illinois, Indiana, and Ohio to the north; West Virginia and Virginia to ...

. Its charter proposed the establishment of a link between Lexington in the center of the

Bluegrass Region The Bluegrass region is a geographic region in the U.S. state of Kentucky. It makes up the central and northern part of the state, roughly bounded by the cities of Frankfort, Paris, Richmond and Stanford. The Bluegrass region is characterized ...

to the river port of

Louisville Louisville ( , , ) is the largest city in the Commonwealth of Kentucky and the 28th most-populous city in the United States. Louisville is the historical seat and, since 2003, the nominal seat of Jefferson County, on the Indiana border. ...

at the

Falls of the Ohio The Falls of the Ohio National Wildlife Conservation Area is a national, bi-state area on the Ohio River near Louisville, Kentucky in the United States, administered by the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers. Federal status was awarded in 1981. The fal ...

by way of Frankfort, the state capital. The line was never completed and the

Panic of 1837 The Panic of 1837 was a financial crisis in the United States that touched off a major depression, which lasted until the mid-1840s. Profits, prices, and wages went down, westward expansion was stalled, unemployment went up, and pessimism abound ...

led to its complete collapse. The

Commonwealth A commonwealth is a traditional English term for a political community founded for the common good. Historically, it has been synonymous with "republic". The noun "commonwealth", meaning "public welfare, general good or advantage", dates from the ...

seized the railroad in payment of its debts in 1840. The rights-of-way of the former L&O were later purchased and utilized by the Louisville & Frankfort and Lexington & Frankfort railroads, which subsequently merged into the

Louisville, Cincinnati and Lexington Railroad The Louisville, Cincinnati and Lexington Railroad was a 19th-century railway company in the U.S. state of Kentucky Kentucky ( , ), officially the Commonwealth of Kentucky, is a state in the Southeastern region of the United States and on ...

References

Defunct Kentucky railroads Predecessors of the Louisville and Nashville Railroad Railway companies established in 1830 Railway companies disestablished in 1842 Transportation in Louisville, Kentucky 1830 establishments in Kentucky American companies established in 1830 American companies disestablished in 1842 {{Louisville-stub

See also

References