Ridgeland and the Railroad

Ridgeland and the Railroad. . , Like many communities, Ridgeland's early growth was due in large part to the presence of the railroad. Access to an existing railroad greatly influenced Edward Treakle and Gorton Nichols of the Highland Colony Company to develop the fertile farmland that would become the Village of Ridgeland. Many of the "first families" of Ridgeland traveled here by passenger train, and freight trains shipped locally grown fruits and vegetables to markets as far away as Chicago. The Ridgeland train depot was located along West Jackson Street. , The first railroad built in Madison County, completed in 1858, was the New Orleans, Jackson and Great Northern RR. The railroad was of major strategic significance during the Civil War and was the object of several Union raids which left it in ruins. It was restored in 1866 as part of the Mississippi Central Railroad and merged with Illinois Central in 1878. In 1972 the. Illinois Central merged with the Gulf, Mobile and Ohio, then with Canadian National in 1998. , Although passenger trains no longer pass through Ridgeland, the Panama Limited, an "all Pullman" train, was a regular through 1971. The famous City of New Orleans passenger train passed through Ridgeland until the late 1990's.