1887 Crawford Railroad Map of Florida and Georgia

This is a December 1887 Crawford Print railroad map of Florida and southern Georgia. Manuscript notes on map and binder record the travels of one E.E. West through Florida, including a harrowing railroad accident in Georgia - the worst in Georgia History.

A Closer Look

This map highlights the railroad network of southern Georgia and Florida, along with parts of South Carolina and Alabama. The boldest lines represent Henry Plant's Central Florida, and the South Florida Railroad. Other railways are also illustrated, including the Florida Railway and Navigation Company, the Louisville and Nashville Railroad, the Central Railroad of Georgia, and the East Tennessee, Virginia and Georgia Railway. Dashed lines mark steamship routes, such as the Plant Steamship Line, which connected to the Plant System railroad network and operated steamers to Key West and Havana, Cuba. Other steamship lines are noted between Tampa and New Orleans and up the Apalachicola River. An inset in the lower left depicts southern Florida and Cuba, illustrating the railroad network in Cuba.

Manuscript Notations

This map belonged to E.E. West, who signed the front of the binder and noted that they visited Kissimmee in December 1887. More manuscript notations in pencil trace what must have been West's railroad journey. They visited Kissimmee, St. Augustine, and Pablo Beach. Pencil notations also mark the steamer route from Savannah to New York (stating that it was a 720-mile journey) and the horrific railroad accident outside Blackshear, Georgia, in March 1888.

The 1888 Savannah, Florida and Western Railroad Accident

On March 17, 1888, the fast-mail train between New York and Tampa, Florida, derailed one mile outside Blackshear, Georgia, careening through a trestle over Hurricane Creek and falling forty feet. The accident killed 21 people immediately and injured at least 40, several of whom died from injuries. Five cars fell from the trestle, including the tender. Only the locomotive managed to stay on the tracks, which continued to Blackshear to sound the alarm. Local citizens and doctors from the surrounding region rushed to the aid of the injured and dying passengers. The wounded were evacuated to surrounding towns and housed in hotels and private homes. It was reported that the incident was caused by a shattered axle on the baggage car.

The Plant System

The Plant System, named after its owner, Henry B. Plant, was a system of railroads and steamboats in the U.S. Southeast. After the Atlantic and Gulf Railroad went bankrupt, Plant bought and reorganized the railroad as the Savannah, Florida and Western Railway. The Savannah, Florida, and Western, which operated across southern Georgia, served as the original line for the Plant System. Plant continued to form and purchase railroads, expanding the network into Florida and South Carolina. The Plant Investment Company was formed in 1882 to lease or buy other railroads, including the Charleston Railroad and the Brunswick and Western Railroad. It also began acquiring steamship lines, expanding coverage from Tampa to Cuba, Key West, and other points. The Plant System was the primary competitor of Henry Flagler's Florida East Coast Railroad. It was taken over by the Atlantic Coast Line Railroad in 1902.

Publication History and Census

This map was published by Crawford's Print in December 1887. This is the only known cataloged example of the present edition. An example of the October 1886 edition (which was printed by the Rand Avery Supply Co.) is part of the collection of the Touchton Map Library at the Tampa Bay History Center. An example of the December 1888 edition published by Crawford's Print is part of the collection at the Wisconsin Historical Society.