St. Louis - San Francisco Railway Company Bond Certificate

Description

Product Details
Beautifully engraved antique bond certificate from the St. Louis-San Francisco Railway Company dating back to the 1940's and 1960's. This document, which has been signed by the company Vice President and Assistant Secretary, was printed by the American Bank Note Company and measures approximately 10" (w) by 15" (h).
The vignette features the Mercury allegory in front of cars, a train, a ship, planes and a city skyline.
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 was incorporated in on September 7, 1876. It was formed from the Missouri Division and Central Division of the . This land grant line was one of two railroads (the other being the ) authorized to build across Indian Territory. The , interested in the A&P right of way across the Mojave Desert to , took the road over until the larger road went bankrupt in 1893; the receivers retained the western right of way but divested the ATSF of the St. Louis-San Francisco mileage on the great plains.
After bankruptcy the Frisco emerged as the St. Louis and San Francisco Railroad, incorporated on June 29, 1896, which also went bankrupt. On August 24, 1916 the company was reorganized as the St. Louis–San Francisco Railway, though the line never went west of , terminating more than 1,000 miles  from .
The St. Louis–San Francisco Railway had two main lines: ––Oklahoma City and ––. The junction of the two lines was in Springfield, Missouri, home to the company's main shop facility and headquarters. Other lines included:
Springfield–Kansas City (via Clinton, Missouri)
Monett, Missouri (Pierce City)–
Monett, Missouri–Hugo, Oklahoma–Paris, Texas
St. Louis–River Junction, (Memphis, Tennessee)
Tulsa, Oklahoma–
Tulsa, Oklahoma–Avard, Oklahoma
Lakeside, Oklahoma–Hugo, Oklahoma–Hope, Arkansas.
From March 1917, through January 1959, the Frisco, in a joint venture with the Missouri–Kansas–Texas Railroad, operated the Texas Special. This luxurious train, a streamliner from 1947, ran from St. Louis to Dallas, Texas, , and .
It was the last passenger railroad to end Jim Crow or segregation of passengers by race.
The Frisco merged into the Burlington Northern Railroad on November 21, 1980.
The city of Frisco, Texas, was named after the railroad and uses the former railroad's logo as its own logo. The logo is modeled after a stretched-out raccoon skin (giving rise to Frisco High School's mascot, the Fighting Raccoons).