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| == Education and railroad career == | == Education and railroad career == | ||
| Collis Potter Huntington was born in ], in 1821. A successful ] businessman, he was half-owner of a hardware store with partner ] and helped fund the ] during the 1860s. This railroad was linked with the ] in ] by the ] and became the first ] in the United States. He was later involved in the establishment of the ]. The railroad's |
Collis Potter Huntington was born in ], in 1821. A successful ] businessman, he was half-owner of a hardware store with partner ] and helped fund the ] during the 1860s. This railroad was linked with the ] in ] by the ] and became the first ] in the United States. He was later involved in the establishment of the ]. The railroad's first locomotive, '']'', was named in his honor.<br> | ||
| Of the Big Four, he was easily the most ruthless. | Of the Big Four, he was easily the most ruthless. | ||
Revision as of 10:14, 4 October 2006
| Collis Potter Huntington |
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Collis Potter Huntington (October 22 1821 - August 13 1900) was one of the Big Four of western railroading (along with Leland Stanford, Mark Hopkins and Charles Crocker) who built the Southern Pacific Railroad and other major interstate train lines.
Education and railroad career
Collis Potter Huntington was born in Harwinton, Connecticut, in 1821. A successful Sacramento, California businessman, he was half-owner of a hardware store with partner Mark Hopkins and helped fund the Central Pacific Railroad during the 1860s. This railroad was linked with the Union Pacific Railroad in 1869 by the golden spike and became the first transcontinental railroad in the United States. He was later involved in the establishment of the Southern Pacific Railroad. The railroad's first locomotive, C. P. Huntington, was named in his honor.
Of the Big Four, he was easily the most ruthless.
Beginning in 1871, he oversaw construction of the Chesapeake and Ohio Railway across Virginia and West Virginia to reach the Ohio River. He established the planned city of Huntington, West Virginia, as well as the coal piers in Warwick County, Virginia at a location which became the City of Newport News in 1896. He also founded Newport News Shipbuilding, the largest privately owned shipyard in the world.
He died in 1900 and is buried at Woodlawn Cemetery in The Bronx, New York.
Family relationships
Collis Huntington was the father of renowned hispanist Archer M. Huntington, who founded a Spanish museum and rare books library The Hispanic Society of America in upper Manhattan, which is still free and open to the public.
His first wife was Elizabeth Stoddard. Collis Huntington also adopted his first wife's niece Clara Elizabeth Prentice. Clara Elizabeth Prentice-Huntington (1860-1928), as she was called, married in 1889 Prince Francis Edward von Hatzfeldt.
Collis was also uncle to another California railroad magnate, Henry E. Huntington, founder of the Huntington Library, Art Collections and Botanical Gardens in San Marino, California and the main force behind the Pacific Electric system in Los Angeles, CA.
He was also related to Clarence Huntington, who was a president of the Virginian Railway.
Collis Huntington in popular culture
For reasons that are unclear, he was referred to in Black Beetles in Amber by Ambrose Bierce as "Happy Hunty".
References
- Ambrose, Stephen E. (2000). Nothing Like It In The World; The men who built the Transcontinental Railroad 1863-1869. Simon & Schuster. ISBN 0-684-84609-8.
- Bierce, Ambrose. "Black Beetles in Amber". Retrieved 2006-05-17.
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| Preceded byLeland Stanford | President of the Southern Pacific Company 1890 – 1900 |
Succeeded byCharles Hayes |
| Central Pacific Railroad · The Big Four | |
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