Memphis & Charleston Railroad, ca. 1890

A Memphis and Charleston Railroad train crosses the Tennessee River at Florence, Lauderdale County, ca. 1890. The railroad was the first rail link between the Mississippi River and the Atlantic Ocean and was a key transportation route for the Confederacy during the Civil War.

Steam locomotive and railcars cross the Memphis and Charleston Railroad bridge over the Tennessee River near Florence.
Courtesy of the Alabama Department of Archives and History
Steam locomotive and railcars cross the Memphis and Charleston Railroad bridge over the Tennessee River near Florence.