Galena and Chicago Union Railroad

The Galena and Chicago Union Railroad was the first railroad built out of Chicago, intended to provide a shipping route between Chicago and the lead mines near Galena, Illinois. The company was chartered on January 16, 1836, but financial difficulties delayed construction until 1848, and its main line never reached Galena itself; a branch built to Freeport, Illinois, instead connected with the Illinois Central Railroad. A second line built to Fulton, Illinois, eventually connected to railroads in Iowa and Nebraska and became the eastern link of the first transcontinental railroad. The Galena and Chicago Union was the original railroad of what became the Chicago and North Western railroad network.