Initial construction and completion The Macon and Brunswick Railroad Company was granted a charter by the state of in March 1856. The charter allowed for the construction of a line from
Brunswick, Georgia or a point along the
Atlantic and Gulf Railroad (1856–79) to
Macon, Georgia. Arthur E Cochran was named the president of the company during a meeting of stockholders that same year. Surveying for the line began in early 1857. The initial survey was completed by April 1857 by a E. McNeil. Construction was delayed for several years due to a lack of enough funding. Slave labor was used for the early grading and track laying. Track building was halted during the
American Civil War. By 1863, fifty miles of track had been completed from
Macon, Georgia to
Dykesboro and an additional branch line from Dykesboro to
Hawkinsville, Georgia. In March 1865, the Confederate government ordered the seizure of the rails of the Macon and Brunswick to help with the reconstruction of the
Macon and Western Railroad, and the company filed suit against the Confederate government. Regular passenger service resumed in June 1865. In July 1865, Arthur Cochran died and was soon replaced by George H Hazelhurst, former chief engineer of the company. In January 1867, a new survey for the rest of the line was conducted and it was then planned to cross the Atlantic and Gulf rail line at
Screven, Georgia. The venture once again faced funding problems, but investors from New York were able to help with the cost of construction. State-backed bonds also helped the financial problems. Construction began from Brunswick to reach the line being simultaneously from Macon in the August 1868. The construction teams consisted primarily of convicts from the
convict lease system. In 1869, the company purchased from the city of Macon the old city fairgrounds, which had been used a prisoner of war camp during the American Civil War. As part of the preparation for the completion of the railroad, the company purchased two new locomotives from
Hinkley Locomotive Works that were named "Brunswick" and "Macon." This brought their total number of engines at the time to eight. The names of two of the others were "Georgia" and "Corsair." By September 1869, the line had been completed from Macon to
Lumber City, Georgia and the trestle over the Ocmulgee River near Lumber City was nearing completion. The last spike was driven on December 14, 1869 near what has since become
Hazlehurst, Georgia. Freight delivery was scheduled to begin the next day. Passenger service began along the line by the middle of January 1870.
Financial decline Not long after it was completed, the company fell upon hard times. By 1873, the company was failing to pay interest on company bonds endorsed by the state of Georgia, and a committee of state senators and state representatives were appointed to examine the financial condition of the company. On July 2, 1873, governor
James Milton Smith, announced that the state of Georgia had seized the Macon and Brunswick Railroad for failure to pay interest on its bonds. From 1873 to 1881 the state of Georgia owned the company. In 1875, the state of Georgia attempted to sell the railroad, but could not find a buyer. In September 1879, the Georgia General Assembly passed an act authorizing the lease or sale of the railroad. The act also authorized the extension of the line from Brunswick to the Florida line and from Macon to Atlanta. Two years later in 1881, the
East Tennessee, Virginia and Georgia Railway bought the railroad. In 1894, the ETV&G became part of the
Southern Railway. Today it is part of the
Norfolk Southern Railway's
Brunswick District. ==Economic and political effects==