Illinois Central Railroad

he Illinois Central system encompassed railroad lines through 14 states in the central section of the United States, known as Mid-America. The IC was chartered in 1851, and traces its roots back to 1828 with the formation of the West Feliciana Railroad, which later became part of the IC. The IC was the first land-grant railroad, the first railroad to promote settlement of the Western lands of Mid-America, and the first railroad to perfect a method of shipping fruit by rail. Until the merger with the Canadian National, the Illinois Central was the only major rail carrier in the United States still operating essentially under its own name without interruption after nearly a century-and-a-half since its founding. In its long and colorful history, the IC achieved many "firsts" in the fields of commerce, transportation and western settlement.