Augusta and Knoxville Railroad

Augusta and Knoxville Railroad

Company type	Railroad
Industry	Rail transport
Founded	1877 (1877)
Defunct	October 27, 1886 (1886-10-27)
Fate	Merged to form Port Royal and Western Carolina Railway
Headquarters	Augusta , United States
Key people	Eugene F. Verdery (president)
Products	Rail transport services

The Augusta and Knoxville Railroad (A&K) managed a railroad route extending between Augusta, Georgia and Greenwood, South Carolina from 1882 until 1886. It subsequently combined with three additional railroads to create the Port Royal and Western Carolina Railway, which was later restructured as the Charleston and Western Carolina Railway in 1896.

History

Originally chartered in 1877 with the goal of connecting Augusta to Knoxville, the company was officially incorporated on February 3, 1880. Patrick H. Bradley initially held the presidency until incorporation but stepped down to vice president due to health concerns. Upon incorporation, Eugene F. Verdery assumed the presidency, overseeing a board composed of ten directors from Georgia and six from South Carolina. To finance construction, bonds were issued, including $50,000 allocated for a bridge spanning the Savannah River.

The railroad's origins trace back to the Greenwood and Augusta Railroad (G&A), which was chartered in 1873 and commenced operations in 1877. This line became part of the Augusta, Knoxville and Greenwood Railroad (AK&G) in 1877 before consolidating into the A&K in 1880. This consolidation extended the prepared right-of-way to . In 1881, the Charlotte, Columbia and Augusta Railroad sought to acquire control as a strategy to prevent competition from the Baltimore and Ohio Railroad (B&O). However, Augusta’s city officials—who owned significant shares—resisted selling to various bidders including B&O, Virginia Midland Railroad, Richmond and Danville Railroad, and the Plant System. The A&K board rejected B&O’s takeover proposal, which would have facilitated completion of the Spartanburg connection.

The inaugural train journeyed from Augusta to Dorrs Mines on January 8, 1882. The entire route was officially inaugurated with a ceremonial train on April 28, 1882, covering a distance of between Augusta and Greenwood. Scheduled passenger operations commenced on May 15, 1882.

In September of 1883, A&K entered into a lease agreement with the Port Royal and Augusta Railway. By 1886, bondholders initiated legal action seeking to terminate this lease, which culminated in A&K merging on October 27, 1886 with the Greenwood, Laurens and Spartanburg Railroad, Greenville and Laurens Railroad, and Savannah Valley Railroad to form the Port Royal and Western Carolina Railway (PR&WC). Eugene F. Verdery continued his involvement as a member of the PR&WC board. The PR&WC underwent reorganization in 1896 as the Charleston and Western Carolina Railway.