The St. Johns and Halifax Railway was a

narrow gauge A narrow-gauge railway (narrow-gauge railroad in the US) is a railway with a track gauge narrower than standard . Most narrow-gauge railways are between and . Since narrow-gauge railways are usually built with tighter curves, smaller structu ...

railroad incorporated on December 12, 1881, under the general incorporation laws of

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 ...

. Its plan was to build a railroad from Rollestown in Putnam County on the

St. Johns River The St. Johns River ( es, Río San Juan) is the longest river in the U.S. state of Florida and its most significant one for commercial and recreational use. At long, it flows north and winds through or borders twelve counties. The drop in eleva ...

, to a point on the

Halifax River The Halifax River is part of the Atlantic Intracoastal Waterway, located in northeast Volusia County, Florida. The waterway was originally known as the North Mosquito River, but was renamed after George Montagu-Dunk, 2nd Earl of Halifax (for whom ...

Volusia County Volusia County (, ) is located in the east-central part of the U.S. state of Florida, stretching between the St. Johns River and the Atlantic Ocean. As of the 2020 United States Census, 2020 census, the county was home to 553,543 people, an incr ...

at or near New Britain (known as

Ormond Beach Ormond Beach is a city in central Florida in Volusia County. The population was 43,080 at the 2020 census. Ormond Beach lies directly north of Daytona Beach and is a principal city of the Deltona–Daytona Beach–Ormond Beach, FL Metropolitan ...

today). The distance of the line was 51.99 miles, but 1.4 miles of the line was eventually abandoned.

state law chapter 3650, approved February 12, 1885, assigned it

land grant A land grant is a gift of real estate—land or its use privileges—made by a government or other authority as an incentive, means of enabling works, or as a reward for services to an individual, especially in return for military service. Grants ...

s. On October 1, 1888, the property of the St. Johns and Halifax Railway was conveyed to the St. Johns & Halifax River Railway, which was incorporated a few days later on October 11, 1888. At some point after this and before 1893, the

line was converted to . On January 1, 1893, the line was acquired by the

Florida East Coast Railway The Florida East Coast Railway is a Class II railroad operating in the U.S. state of Florida, currently owned by Grupo México. Built primarily in the last quarter of the 19th century and the first decade of the 20th century, the FEC was a pr ...

. Wikipedia:WikiProject Trains/ICC valuations/Florida East Coast Railway

References

3 ft gauge railways in the United States Defunct Florida railroads Predecessors of the Florida East Coast Railway Railway companies established in 1881 Railway companies disestablished in 1888 Narrow gauge railroads in Florida 1881 establishments in Florida {{Florida-transport-stub