The Liberty–White Railroad was chartered on December 22, 1902, and acquired the

narrow gauge A narrow-gauge railway (narrow-gauge railroad in the US) is a railway with a track gauge (distance between the rails) narrower than . Most narrow-gauge railways are between and . Since narrow-gauge railways are usually built with Minimum railw ...

logging

railroad Rail transport (also known as train transport) is a means of transport using wheeled vehicles running in railway track, tracks, which usually consist of two parallel steel railway track, rails. Rail transport is one of the two primary means of ...

of the J.J. White Lumber Company running southwest from McComb,

Mississippi Mississippi ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the Southeastern United States, Southeastern and Deep South regions of the United States. It borders Tennessee to the north, Alabama to the east, the Gulf of Mexico to the south, Louisiana to the s ...

. A branch of this logging railroad was converted to and extended to the Amite County seat of

Liberty Liberty is the state of being free within society from oppressive restrictions imposed by authority on one's way of life, behavior, or political views. The concept of liberty can vary depending on perspective and context. In the Constitutional ...

and opened July 20, 1904."Liberty-White Railroad," in "Tap Line Case," Investigation and Suspension Docket No. 11, Interstate Commerce Commission Reports, Vol. 23, pp. 644-645. A branch was also built eastward from the J.J. White mill in South McComb to New Holmesville in 1907 and extended to Tylertown in 1912. J.J. White was notable for being one of the first Mississippi

lumber Lumber is wood that has been processed into uniform and useful sizes (dimensional lumber), including beams and planks or boards. Lumber is mainly used for construction framing, as well as finishing (floors, wall panels, window frames). ...

men to operate a private logging railroad in 1879. The Liberty–White Railroad began experiencing financial difficulties after the J.J. White Lumber Company mill in South McComb closed in 1912 and was moved to

Columbia, Mississippi Columbia is a city in and the county seat of Marion County, Mississippi, United States. Formed six years before Mississippi was admitted to statehood, Columbia was named for Columbia, South Carolina, from which many of the early settlers had mig ...

. The gauge line running southwest to Keiths was immediately abandoned, and the branch to Tylertown was abandoned December 1918. The remaining line from South McComb to Liberty was finally abandoned per

Interstate Commerce Commission The Interstate Commerce Commission (ICC) was a regulatory agency in the United States created by the Interstate Commerce Act of 1887. The agency's original purpose was to regulate railroads (and later Trucking industry in the United States, truc ...

order September 23, 1921."In the Matter of the Application of the Liberty-White Railroad Company for a Certificate of Public Convenience and Necessity," Finance Docket No. 1514, Interstate Commerce Commission Reports, Vol. 70, pp. 411-412.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Liberty White Railroad Defunct Mississippi railroads Narrow-gauge railroads in Mississippi 3 ft gauge railways in the United States Logging railroads in the United States