Jun 21, 2016 - Sale 2420

Sale 2420 - Lot 225

Price Realized: $ 2,125
?Final Price Realized includes Buyer’s Premium added to Hammer Price
Estimate: $ 2,000 - $ 3,000
(NEW HAMPSHIRE.) Original stock subscription list for the Mount Washington Railroad Company. 10 manuscript pages. 12mo, stitched into two gatherings and bound with fasteners; minor wear. Np, 12 May 1866
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This slim volume marks the birth of New Hampshire's most iconic attraction, the cog railway up Mount Washington. Sylvester Marsh (1803-1884) was a local man who thought the 6,000-foot peak with legendarily harsh weather could become a tourist attraction. He envisioned a new form of rail technology to carry tourists to the summit, and a resort hotel at the base. Though he was widely regarded as insane, his company was chartered in 1858, and he began securing funding shortly after the Civil War.
In order to make his plan viable, Marsh needed a connecting rail line from the Boston, Concord & Montreal Railroad to bring tourists to the foot of the mountain. He cemented this promise by securing their investment in his company. This explains the names on the subscription list. Sylvester Marsh leads the way, putting up $5,000 for 50 shares. He is followed by John E. Lyon, president of the B.C. & M. R.R.; Cheney & Co. (an express company); the Connecticut and Passumpsic Rivers Railroad; and the Northern Railroad, which subscribed for a total of 135 shares at $13,500. Four minor private investors (including the founder's son John F. Marsh) followed. Each signature was certified with a dated revenue stamp. Also recorded in the book are two later attempts to raise additional funds, one a simple listing of names, and the other with the signatures crossed out. With money in hand, Marsh built the world's first mountain cog railway. It is still the second-steepest,and has carried five million passengers.