New Jersey grants the first American railroad charter to John Stevens

Legislative Context. The New Jersey Legislature is the legislative branch of the government of the state of New Jersey. The passages identify the body and note that it meets in the New Jersey State House in Trenton, the state capital, though they do not specify where the Legislature sat when it acted in 1815. The charter grant occurred in 1815, predating the railroad mania that began with the Baltimore and Ohio Railroad in 1827.

John Stevens. John Stevens III (1749–1838) was an American lawyer, engineer, and inventor. He is credited with constructing the first U.S. steam locomotive and steam-powered ferry. The 1815 charter was granted to Stevens and others, marking a significant legal milestone for rail transport in the United States.

Early Railroad Development. The 1815 charter preceded the founding of the first passenger and freight line in the country, the Baltimore and Ohio Railroad, in 1827. The passages also note that from 1815 onward, American railroads competed with horse-drawn or mule-drawn barges on canals and paddle wheel steamboats on rivers, a competition that lasted until the 1870s.