Book Description

A Frontier Link with the World is the history of one small company which operated a track sixteen miles long and served essentially one community. This company shared significant characteristics with its much larger neighbors, and therefore serves as a microcosm depicting the interrelationships between the corporate activities of a Georgia railroad and the economic and social history of the community it served.A Frontier Link with the World balances discussions of government and corporate influences on railroad development with the activity and interest, collective and individual, of investors and customers in the local community. Paterson describes misconceptions about the railroad's purpose and potential which fostered a love-hate relationship between local people and the railroad. From an analysis of the local economy, David Paterson explores how much the railroad benefited the community, and who benefited most. Beyond scheduled freight and passenger services, the author details other railroad services which broadened the social and cultural horizons of the community.The book makes extensive use of manuscript sources, including the recently - available Central of Georgia Railway Collection at the Georgia Historical Society in Savannah. Significant depth is added by: (1) data on population and wealth for the local community compiled from local tax records for the period of the company's existence, illustrating how the railroad was funded, its profitability, and its effect on the growth of the community, and (2) sufficient biographical data on most of the railroad's employees showing who they were, where they were recruited, and how local amateur operators evolved into a careerrailroad workforce.