Page:History of Southeast Missouri 1912 Volume 1.djvu/563

 HISTORY OF SOUTHEAST MISSOURI 503 he formed a company known as the Cape Girardeau & Chester Railroad Company and built a railroad from Cape Girardeau, by way of Jackson, to Perryville, connecting with the road from West Chester at the latter point. This system of railroads extending from Cape Girardeau to West Chester was about 65 miles in length. In 1906 the Saline Val- ley Railroad was incorporated and work be- gun on the line from Saline Junction, where the Cape Girardeau & Chester crossed Saline creek, to Farmington, in St. Francois county. This is a distance of 35 miles and the rail- road w-as completed into Farmington in 1912, The Cape Girardeau & Thebes Bridge Terminal Railway Company was incorpor- ated in 1907 and constructed a line from Cape Girardeau to Kelso, on the main line of the St. Louis Southwestern, a short distance from the Thebes bridge; this line is seven miles in length. At the present time all the lines owned by Mr. Houck are being con- solidated imder one management into a road extending from the Thebes bridge to Farm- ington, in St. Francois coimty, a distance of about 110 miles. In addition to this line there is a branch from Saline Junction to West Chester. It is evident that the system of railroads here indicated is destined to form an important link in a north and south line probably from St. Louis to Thebes, or even further south. It is difficult for us to give a .just idea of the importance of the work of Louis Houck in Southeast Missouri. At a time when many localities in the section had absolutely no railroad facilities, at a time when people did not appreciate the importance of railroads in the destiny of the country, when capital was scarce and difficult to obtain for railroad purposes, Mr. Hoiick, who was then a lawyer with no great amount of capital, but with a vision which extended into the future and saw the development of Southeast Missouri and the part which railroads were destined to play in their development, began the con- struction of railroads. Through his efforts railroads have been built in Cape Girardeau, Scott, Stoddard, Bollinger, Dunklin, Pemi- scot, Perry, Ste. Genevieve and St. Francois coimties. In many of these counties the Houck railroad was the first constructed. The advantages which were accrued to the section from these railroads are irameasure- able. A study of the tables of population and surplus products establishes conclusively the importance of these lines. The benefits the coimtry derived from their building was not confined to the railroads themselves, the very evident fact that they were building up the coimtry and that they were carrying great quantities of freight and large num- bers of passengers was inducement for other railroad oTiers to extend their systems into southeast Missouri. When these enterprises were begun the section was touched by but two railroads, the Belmont branch of the Iron Lloimtain and the Cairo & Fulton; all the other railroad.s have been built subse- quently to the beginnings made by Louis Houck. One of the two great trunk lines of South- east Missouri is the St. Louis & San Fran- cisco system. It acquired by purchase the system known as the St. Louis & Gulf, which had been built by Louis Houck. The lines of this system extended south from Cape Girardeau through the comities of Scott, New Madrid, Dimklin and Pemiscot, to Caruthers- ville, on the Mississippi. The principal towns on the mdin line of the road were Commerce, Benton. Morley, Morehouse, Parma, Clarkton, Holcomb, Kennett, Hayti