Weldon: Once the Railroad Capital of the World

In eighteen forty the Wilmington and Weldon Railroad finished its last spike, and for a brief moment this small Roanoke River town held a remarkable title: it sat at the end of the longest railroad on earth, more than one hundred sixty miles of track. By eighteen fifty-five, five separate rail companies ran lines through Weldon, and observers were calling it the Railroad Capital of the World and the first major interstate rail hub in the South. Daniel Weldon's orchard had given the place its name; the river had made it a shipping port; and the railroads made it a nexus.

During the Civil War the Wilmington and Weldon line became known as the lifeline of the Confederacy, supplying Richmond from the port at Wilmington. Cutting that line became one of Grant's central strategic objectives.