Birmingham Columbus & St. Andrews

Company History: The BC&StA was established in 1903 and began building a line from Chipley, Florida toward the port of Southport on St. Andrews Bay. In four years, they managed to build just 15 miles of line to Greenhead. The remaining 18 miles to Southport was built by the Southport Lumber Company in 1912. Both the railroad and the lumber company then went bankrupt. Southport Lumber was sold to Sale-Davis Lumber Company and a receiver was appointed to run the BC&StA. In 1926, the railroad was sold at auction and reincorporated as the Alabama & Western Florida.

Successor/Parent History: The AC opened in 1907 with a 7 mile line from connections in Jasper, Alabama to a sawmill in Manchester. In 1915, the line was extended 6 miles to Sun-light to serve a coal mine. Six years later, they added a 2 mile branch from Manchester to a second coal mine in Marigold. The railroad was nearly abandoned in 1927 before being purchased by mining interests. In 1940, the line to Sun-light was pulled up. The sawmill was long gone by that time and only the mine at Marigold remained. The last train ran (behind steam) in May of 1961.

Brief History: The U.S. is a country of 50 states covering a vast swath of North America, with Alaska in the northwest and Hawaii extending the nation’s presence into the Pacific Ocean. Major Atlantic Coast cities are New York, a global finance and culture center, and capital Washington, DC. Midwestern metropolis Chicago is known for influential architecture and on the west coast, Los Angeles' Hollywood is famed for filmmaking.