Page:History of Southeast Missouri 1912 Volume 1.djvu/562

 502 HISTORY OF SOUTHEAST MISSOURI pello, in Wayne county, a distance of fifty- one miles from Cape Girardeau. In 1886 the road acquired by lease the Brownwood & Northwestern Railroad, which extended from Brownwood to Zalma, a distance of nine miles. This Brownwood & Northwestern had been built by William Brown. In 1887 the road was extended from Wappapello to Chaonia, a distance of seven miles. In 1891 Mr. Houck became interested in a railroad that had been built from Camp- bell, on the Cotton Belt, to the county seat of Dunklin county. This road had been con- structed by E. S. McCarthy and associates. Mr. Houck acquired a controlling interest in this road, reconstructed it, and continued its operation. In 1893-1894 he built a railroad from Kennett to Caruthersville, in Pemiscot comity, a distance of 25 miles, giving the people of the southern part of Dunklin county a more direct outlet to the Mississippi river than they had had before. In 1896-1897 he constructed a railroad from Kennett, by way of Seuath, to Leechville, iu Arkansas, opening up a country before distant from railroads and a country among the most fertile and valuable in Southeast Missouri. In 1898 he built a railroad from Brown- wood to Bloomfield, La Stoddard county. Up to this time Bloomfield had been a purely inland town having no railroad connections at all. This brought connection with the Cape Girardeau & Southwestern which, with its connections, formed a trunk line through southern Missouri. In the same year the road from Bloomfield to Zeta, in Stoddard county, on the Cotton Belt, was rebuilt. In 1894 Mr. Homck began the construction of one of the most important of his railroads. It was known as Houck 's Missouri & Arkan- sas Railroad, and was to extend from Cape Girardeau to a connection with the St. Louis, Kennett & Southern at Gibson, in Dunklin county, a distance of 100 miles. This enter- prise required until 1900 for its completion. This link made the railroads owned by jIr. Houck into a system, since all of them were now connected. This sj'stem of railroads covered part of Southeast Missouri south of Cape Girardeau. In 1905 a railroad was constructed from West Chester, on the Mississippi river, to Perryville, the county seat of Perry county. In 1898 a road connecting St. Mary's and Ste. Genevieve was built. These were the beginnings of a system north of Cape Girardeau, but for a time were left mcon- neeted. In 1902 all of Mr. Houck 's railroads south of Cape Girardeau were consolidated imder the name of the St. Louis & Gulf. They embraced the lines running to Hunter and from Cape Girardeau to Kennett, Caruthersville, and a stretch of railroad eight miles in length from Pascola to Deer- ing, which had been built in 1901. Shortly after the consolidation of these various railroads the o^Tiership of them was transferred from Mr. Houck and his asso- ciates to the St. Louis & San Francisco Rail- road Companj', but Mr. Houck 's activity in railroad building did not cease with this transfer. He had parted with the control and ownership of most of his railroad prop- erty, but still owned the road from West Chester to Perrj^ille and that from St. Mary's to Ste. Genevieve. It was his inten- tion to make these the beginnings of a new system to cover the comntry north of Cape Girardeau which was without railroad facil- ities. It is rather remarkable that the coun- ties of Ste. Genevieve, Perry and St. Fran- cois, among the old coimties of the state, were among the last to secure adequate railroad facilities. Carrying out his purpose, in 1904