Keokuk and Hamilton Bridge Company

from Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
President of Keokuk and Hamilton Bridge Company Andrew Carnegie; and Secretary and Treasurer Theodore P. Gilman

The Keokuk and Hamilton Bridge Company was a railroad company in the United States . The company owned the Keokuk & Hamilton Bridge and its predecessor as well as the 3.2 kilometer long railway line between Keokuk and Hamilton .

history

In order to improve the development of the areas in Iowa , businessmen in Iowa and neighboring Illinois began looking for ways to build a bridge over the Mississippi from the mid-1860s . Therefore, on February 13, 1865, the Hancock County Bridge Company in Illinois and on January 15, 1866 the Keokuk and Hamilton Mississippi River Bridge Company in Iowa. With the construction of the transcontinental railroad by the Union Pacific Railroad in 1865, the railroad companies began looking for ways to benefit from the expected traffic in the areas west of Omaha.

On July 25, 1866, a law was signed by President Andrew Johnson that allowed the construction of eight Mississippi bridges, including one in Keokuk. The construction of such a bridge seemed interesting for the steel tycoon Andrew Carnegie and he won over the managers of the Pennsylvania Railroad (PRR) John Edgar Thomson and Thomas Alexander Scott for the project.

The Columbus, Chicago and Indiana Central Railway (a leased subsidiary of the Pennsylvania Railroad ), the Illinois-based Toledo, Peoria and Warsaw Railway and the Toledo, Wabash and Western Railway, and the Iowa-based Des Moines Valley, would benefit from such a bridge Railroad ensured the merger of the two bridge companies on August 1, 1868 to the Keokuk and Hamilton Bridge Company. Andrew Carnegie became president of the new society.

A contract dated January 19, 1869 between the railway companies and the bridge company stipulated that the Keokuk and Hamilton Bridge Company built, operates and maintains a bridge between Hamilton and Keokuk. In return, the companies undertook to pay a usage fee. In addition, the railway companies each undertook to assume a quarter of losses and to pay the interest on borrowings.

First iron Keokuk & Hamilton Bridge (1871)

For the bridge, built between 1869 and 1871 by Andrew Carnegie's Keystone Bridge Company , the company issued 30-year asset-backed bonds valued at $ 1 million with an interest rate of 8%. Additionally, $ 1 million of shares were issued. The shares were assigned to the Keystone Bridge Company for the construction of the bridge. The cost of building the bridge was approximately $ 850,000.

Shortly afterwards, the stock market crash of 1872, which led to the bankruptcy of several railway companies. The Des Moines Valles Railroad was auctioned off on October 17, 1873; the Toledo, Peoria and Warsaw Railway and the Toledo, Wabash and Western Railway were taken over by other newly formed companies and the Columbus, Chicago and Indiana Central Railway was taken over by the Pennsylvania Railroad and its subsidiary Pittsburgh, Cincinnati and St. Louis Railroad taken over. As a result, the two PRR companies refused to pay the loss compensation because the company no longer used the bridge. The contract was declared valid by the Supreme Court and the two companies were obliged to pay their share of the loss. By paying $ 250,000, the PRR released itself from its permanent payment obligation.

Second Steel Keokuk & Hamilton Bridge (1916)

After the bridge could no longer cope with the increased traffic, the entrepreneurs from Keokuk wanted a better bridge and there was a risk of a second bridge being built, the company decided to renovate and renew the bridge at the request of a congress committee. To this end, Keokuk & Hamilton Bondholders Company was founded as a holding company in 1914. This took over all outstanding bonds in exchange for new sales-hedged bonds and issued further asset-protected bonds in the amount of 384,800 $ with an interest of 6% to secure the financing. This new bond was secured by the original bond. The new turnover-hedged bonds were later converted into 100,100 shares valued at $ 10. This made the bond owners shareholders of Keokuk & Hamilton Bondholders Company.

Andrew Carnegie was President of the Society until shortly before his death. Theodore Gilman then took over this position. In the mid-1920s, Carnegie-affiliated manager Royal D. Edsell became president.

In 1938 the Company offered the Keokuk City Bridge for $ 1,143,000 plus compensation for the shares. In return, the city offered $ 500,000.

The income generated by the use of the bridge by the railway companies, cars and pedestrians was insufficient to ensure ongoing maintenance and repairs.

After there was again the danger that a second bridge would be built through the city, the proposal was made to take over the bridge as a "gift". In return, only outstanding bond and share obligations of $ 775,000 would have to be paid. Alternatively, the payment could also be placed on the bridge as a bond.

To prepare for the handover and refinancing, Keokuk & Hamilton Bridge Inc. was founded on June 18, 1941 and the bridge was taken over by this company. Royal Edsell was also President of this Keokuk-based company until his death in 1945.

After the negotiations and the handover procedure had been completed, the city took ownership of the bridge on January 13, 1949.

Economic development

The economic development of society was fluctuating. In particular, the expected traffic from the direction of Omaha / Council Bluffs (the beginning of the transcontinental railroad of the Union Pacific Railroad ) was lower than expected, as the route via Davenport / Rock Island became the main route to Chicago.

So in 1902 the profit was $ 3,268. In 1915 the profit was $ 12,332, in 1918 the company lost $ 8,621. After that, profits rose again to $ 52,716 in 1920. However, the income was insufficient to guarantee the interest on the bonds.

Company headquarters

The company was based in New York City.

literature

Individual evidence

  1. Albert J. Churchill Ella: The Pennsylvania Railroad, Volume 1: Building an Empire, 1846-1917 . University of Pennsylvania Press, 2012, ISBN 0-8122-0762-9 , pp. 410 ( google.de [accessed on November 29, 2017]).
  2. Interstate Commerce Commission reports: reports ... v.175 1931 p. 99 https://babel.hathitrust.org/cgi/pt?id=osu.32437011642606;view=1up;seq=135
  3. Poor's 1903
  4. ^ Moody's Manual 1920