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As railroads first began operation in the 1820s, Pensacola's business leaders began planning a way to connect the harbor to this new transportation network. In December [[1833]], a public meeting was held that resulted in a request to the Alabama state legislature and Florida territorial council for permission to construct a 210-mile railroad. Finding enthusiastic approval from the Florida lawmakers, the Florida, Alabama & Georgia Railroad was incorporated on [[February 14]], [[1834]], authorized to build a road from Pensacola to the Florida-Alabama border, where it would join a road from Columbus, Georgia.
The Alabama legislature was less enthusiastic, as [[Mobile]] delegates worried that a proposed branch line to Montgomery would affect commerce down the [[Alabama River]]. When their delegation blocked a first attempt to pass a charter, a compromise was reached that scrapped the Montgomery line, after which the plan was approved in late 1834. Florida endorsed the Alabama charter in February of the next year.
==Funding & planning==
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==References==
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*[http://purl.fcla.edu/fcla/dl/FS66750104.pdf Charters of the Bank of Pensacola; Alabama, Florida and Georgia railroad company; Pensacola and Perdido rail road company; Blakely and Perdido rail road company; Montgomery rail road company; and Selma and Tennessee rail road company], 1838.*Charles H. Hildreth. "Railroads Out Of Pensacola, 1833-1883." ''Florida Historical Quarterly'', Volume XXXCII, Numbers 3 and 4, January-April 1959.
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[[Category:Railroads]]