Southern Iowa Railway Company Stock Certificate

Description

Product Details
Intricately engraved antique stock certificate from the Southern Iowa Railway Company dating back to the early 1900's. This document was printed by Goes and measures approximately 10 1/4" (w) by 8 1/8" (h).
The vignette on this piece shows an eagle on a crag.
Images
The images presented are representative of the piece(s) you will receive. When representative images are presented for one of our offerings, you will receive a certificate in similar condition as the one pictured; however dating, denomination, certificate number and issuance details may vary.
Historical Context
The Southern Iowa Railway traces its ancestry from the Albia Centerville interurban, believed to be the oldest in Iowa. It was incorporated as the Centerville, Moravia and Albia Railroad by Francis M. Drake, a former Iowa governor and founder of Drake University, and Russell Sage of New York.
The road was built as a branch of the Missouri, Iowa and Northern of the Wabash system in 1880. The Wabash operated trains between St. Louis and Des Moines over the two roads to Centerville and Albia until 1885 when it went into receivership. In 1880, the railroad was reorganized as the Albia Centerville Railway, leased to the Iowa Central which was later controlled by the M&StL and operated from Oskaloosa via Albia to Centerville until 1910. That year, W. A. Boland of New York and J. L. Sawyers of Centerville, dissatisfied with the M&StL service, reorganized the road, changing the name to the Southern Traction Company. Although the name implied electric-powered equipment, it ran by steam. In 1914, Frank S. Payne and D . D . Bradley of the Centerville Light and Traction Company purchased the road and changed the name to the Centerville, Albia and Southern Railway, electrifying it shortly thereafter.
By utilizing the street car tracks in both towns, the 30-mile interurban reached the depots of the CB&Q at Albia and the CRI&P at Centerville. Freight revenues came from coal and package traffic, interchanged with the M&StL at Albia, the Wabash at Moravia and the CMStP at Trask.
In 1916, the Centerville Light and Traction Company changed its name to the Iowa Southern Utilities Company and the railroad was conveyed to the utility firm. It became the Southern Iowa Railway Company in 1941.