HOUCK AND EARLY RAILROADERS MAKE TRACKS

Railroads have changed society in many important ways since the invention of the world's first steam locomotive in 1804.

According to historical accounts, railroad building in Missouri began in 1852. Shortly thereafter, the first railroad came to Cape Girardeau. It was built by Louis Houck, former chairman of the Southeast Missouri State University Board of Regents. The track stretched from Cape Girardeau to Springfield.

"I think that somebody would have eventually started building the railroad, but he (Houck) was the one who wanted to start it now," said Andy Juden, great-grandson of Houck.

Houck realized the lack of train service to Cape Girardeau was causing the city to miss out on substantial trade revenues. People from other communities could use the railroad to transport their furs, cotton and agricultural products to towns other than Cape Girardeau because the train stopped in those communities.

Houck recognized this problem. According to a master of arts thesis by Houck decided to start construction himself by purchasing land and placing track on it.

"Railroads were able to get timber out from the area, transport grain from farmers and brought commerce to the community," Juden said. "My great-grandfather was a general contractor who helped build the railroads for over a period of 30 years."

The new railroad lines were referred to as the "Houck lines" and covered the majority of Southern Missouri and Arkansas. The most famous Cape Girardeau railroad is the Southern Missouri and Arkansas line. These railroads connected Cape Girardeau with towns like St. Louis, which had restaurants, saloons, and gambling places close to the railroad tracks.

During the 1800s, trains were predominately used for freight and carrying timber, but as the 1800s passed, passengers found the transportation convenient and affordable.

In 1904, the first railroad connected Cape Girardeau to St. Louis. According to the Southeast Missourian, Cape Girardeau at the time was "booming in business" and had more than 21 saloons.

The National Museum of Transportation in New York, "More than 90 percent of Americans traveled by rail in the same middle class." However, due to the time period, there were still separate waiting rooms for men and women and separate facilities for blacks and whites.

The American Civil War was often referred to as the "Railroad War." Battles were fought over rail junctions and repair facilities. North and South competed to see who could use the railroad more effectively and prevent the other side from using its rails.

After the Civil War, the federal government identified strips of land in areas of the South and Midwest that they wanted to grow with population along the borderlines of railroad tracks. According to the National Museum of Transportation in New York, the Federal Land Grant Program was designed to "promote the advantages of settling and helping pay for railroad construction."

A total of 18,738 miles of track were funded by grant. The towns surrounding these areas were then given money to build homes and stores along these pathways.

When the 1900s rolled around, there were more than 2 million people working on the railroads.

After the 1930s, railroad passengers began to ride in automobiles, buses and airplanes instead of trains. By the end of the 1960s, several of the nations largest railroads faced bankruptcy.

Today railroads are carrying more freight than at any time in their history, but with less than 100,000 miles of track from the peak years of the early 1900s.