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HISTORICAL NOTES
A charter was obtained from the Georgia legislature on September 28, 1881, authorizing the formation of the Georgia Southern and Florida Railroad Company (GS&F) to build a line south from Macon to the crossing of the Savannah, Florida & Western Railroad at Dupont or Homerville in Clinch County near the state line with Florida.
In 1884, the Florida legislature granted a charter for the Macon & Florida Air-Line Railroad Company to extend the GS&F from the state line to Tampa, or Charlotte harbor, on the west coast of Florida with a branch line to some point on the St. Johns River in the eastern part of the state.
The two separate companies were merged in 1888 as the Georgia Southern & Florida Railroad.
Two important decisions were to be made in the construction of the GS&F. First, the line would be routed thirty or forty miles west of the originally planned route (passing through Valdosta instead of Homerville or Dupont). Second, one line would be built wholley in Florida, extending to the town of Palatka on the St. Johns River, connecting there with the Jacksonville, Tampa & Key West Railroad.
In 1887, the Macon Construction Company began construction and the line initially reached the Americus, Preston & Lumpkin Railroad some sixty-five miles south of Macon. A station was established at this location which later became the City of Cordele, Georgia.
During this period, the Macon Construction Company was also laying track for the Macon & Birmingham and the Macon & Atlantic railroads, both owned by the same group of investors as the Georgia Southern & Florida. The Macon & Birmingham Railroad was building westward between its namesake cities. By the end of January, 1890, with only 105 miles of track laid, crews finally reached LaGrange, Georgia. On the other hand, the Macon & Atlantic listed only 12 miles of track running east from Bruton, Georgia, on its quest toward Savannah. Both were operating at a loss. Only the Georgia Southern & Florida, with some 200 miles of track reaching into Florida, was returning a profit.
The decision was made to stop all further construction on the M&A and the M&B and all resources were to go into the GS&F RR in order to quickly reach the busy St. Johns River port of Palatka. By March of 1890, the GS&F RR was completed and opened for service into Palatka. The GS&F revenues generated were then used by the Macon Construction Company on the M&B RR and the M&A RR. Because of this misuse of funds, the heavily mortgaged Georgia Southern & Florida Railroad fell into bankruptcy and receivership in 1891, and was sold under forclosure on April 2, 1895.
In 1895, J. P. Morgan, for the benefit of the Southern Railway System, gained what he thought was total control of the Georgia Southern & Florida's 285 miles of track from Macon, Georgia, south to Palatka, Florida. The GS&F Railroad was reorganized as the GS&F Railway. However, there remained a large block of outstanding stock in trust that prevented the Southern interests from having more than 44% “operating control".
In 1902, the GS&F bought the property of the Atlantic, Valdosta and Western Railway between Valdosta, Georgia, and Jacksonville, Florida. It also owned the Macon and Birmingham Railroad and the Hawkinsville and Florida Southern Railway. Nicknamed the Suwanee River Route, it crossed the stream made famous by a song composed by Stephen Foster in the 1850's. Today the GS&F remains officially in existence as a subsidiary of Norfolk Southern. It no longer extends to Palatka, however, ending instead at Lake City. The NS main line to Jacksonville is now the former Atlantic, Valdosta and Western.
Information Courtesy of the Georgia Southern and Florida Historical Society
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