The Detroit and Pontiac Railroad is a defunct

railroad Rail transport (also known as train transport) is a means of transport using wheeled vehicles running in railway track, tracks, which usually consist of two parallel steel railway track, rails. Rail transport is one of the two primary means of ...

which operated in the

state of Michigan Michigan ( ) is a peninsular U.S. state, state in the Great Lakes region, Great Lakes region of the Upper Midwest, Upper Midwestern United States. It shares water and land boundaries with Minnesota to the northwest, Wisconsin to the west, ...

during the mid-nineteenth century. It was the sixth railroad to receive a charter from Michigan, then a

territory A territory is an area of land, sea, or space, belonging or connected to a particular country, person, or animal. In international politics, a territory is usually a geographic area which has not been granted the powers of self-government, ...

, and the second, after the Erie & Kalamazoo, to actually operate

train A train (from Old French , from Latin">-4; we might wonder whether there's a point at which it's appropriate to talk of the beginnings of French, that is, when it wa ... , from Latin , "to pull, to draw") is a series of connected vehicles th ...

s. The first attempt to connect

Detroit Detroit ( , ) is the List of municipalities in Michigan, most populous city in the U.S. state of Michigan. It is situated on the bank of the Detroit River across from Windsor, Ontario. It had a population of 639,111 at the 2020 United State ...

and

Pontiac Pontiac most often refers to: * Pontiac (Odawa leader) ( – 1769), Native American war chief *Pontiac (automobile), a former General Motors brand Pontiac may also refer to: Places and jurisdictions Canada * Pontiac, Quebec, a municipality ** Apo ...

by railroad had come on July 31, 1830; when the

Michigan Territorial Council The Michigan Territorial Council, known formally as the Legislative Council of the Territory of Michigan, was the legislative body of the Territory of Michigan from 1824 to 1835, when it was succeeded by the Michigan Legislature in anticipation o ...

granted a charter to the Pontiac and Detroit Railroad. This was the first such charter granted both in Michigan and in the

Northwest Territory The Northwest Territory, also known as the Old Northwest and formally known as the Territory Northwest of the River Ohio, was formed from part of the unorganized western territory of the United States after the American Revolution. Established ...

region.Farmer (1884), 893. Nothing came of the Pontiac & Detroit, so in 1834 the state granted a new charter to the Detroit and Pontiac Railroad. After four years the D&P began operation over a modest line, spurred on by a $100,000 loan from the state. The railroad finally reached Pontiac in 1843, thirteen years after the state first granted a charter for that purpose.Baxter, 528. On April 21, 1855, the D&P was consolidated with the Oakland and Ottawa Rail Road to form the

Detroit and Milwaukee Railway Detroit ( , ) is the most populous city in the U.S. state of Michigan. It is situated on the bank of the Detroit River across from Windsor, Ontario. It had a population of 639,111 at the 2020 census, making it the 26th-most populous city ...

and ceased to exist as an independent company. In 1878, the Detroit and Milwaukee Railway was reorganized as the

Detroit, Grand Haven and Milwaukee Railway The Detroit, Grand Haven and Milwaukee Railway is a defunct railroad which operated in the US state of Michigan during the late 19th and early 20th centuries. Itself the product of several consolidations in the 1870s, it became part of the Grand ...

Notes

References

* * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Detroit Pontiac Railroad Railway companies established in 1834 Railway companies disestablished in 1855 Defunct Michigan railroads History of Detroit Pontiac, Michigan Predecessors of the Grand Trunk Railway American companies established in 1834 1834 establishments in Michigan Territory