On This Day

First railroad accident in US, Granite Railway, Quincy, Massachusetts, kills one

The Granite Railway was one of the first railroads in the United States, built to carry granite from Quincy, Massachusetts, to a dock on the Neponset River in Milton.

The Granite Railway was one of the first railroads in the United States, built to carry granite from Quincy, Massachusetts, to a dock on the Neponset River in Milton. From there boats carried the heavy stone to Charlestown for construction of the Bunker Hill Monument. The Granite Railway is popularly termed the first commercial railroad in the United States, as it was the first chartered railway to evolve into a common carrier without an intervening closure. The last active quarry closed in 1963; in 1985, the Metropolitan District Commission purchased 22 acres (8.9 ha), including Granite Railway Quarry, as the Quincy Quarries Reservation.

Historical Significance

The Granite Railway was one of the first railroads in the United States, built to carry granite from Quincy, Massachusetts, to a dock on the Neponset River in Milton.

Events Before

  1. Slave plantation owner Charles Farquharson begins his diary at Prospect Hill Plantation, Watlings Island (San Salvador),

    Slave plantation owner Charles Farquharson begins his diary at Prospect Hill Plantation, Watlings Island (San Salvador), the only plantation diary to survive from the Bahamas (ends Dec 1832) [1]

  2. Soldier and future Confederate General Robert E. Lee (24) marries Mary Custis (22) at Arlington House, Arlington Virgini

    Soldier and future Confederate General Robert E. Lee (24) marries Mary Custis (22) at Arlington House, Arlington Virginia

  3. "America (My Country 'Tis of Thee)" with lyrics by Samuel Francis Smith has its first public performance at Park Street

    "America (My Country 'Tis of Thee)" with lyrics by Samuel Francis Smith has its first public performance at Park Street Church in Boston, Massachusetts

  4. Ioannis Kapodistrias, the first Head of State of modern Greece, is assassinated in Nafplion

    Count Ioannis Antoniou Kapodistrias, sometimes anglicized as John Capodistrias, was a Greek statesman who was one of the most distinguished politicians and diplomats of 19th-century...

  5. Michael Faraday demonstrates his dynamo invention, an electric generator

    Michael Faraday (22 September 1791 – 25 August 1867) was an English chemist and physicist who contributed to the study of electrochemistry and electromagnetism.

Events After

  1. Curaçao census: 2,602 white people, 6,531 free people, 5,894 enslaved people

    Curaçao census: 2,602 white people, 6,531 free people, 5,894 enslaved people

  2. French composer Hector Berlioz (29) weds Irish actress Harriet Smithson (30) at the British Embassy in Paris, France

    French composer Hector Berlioz (29) weds Irish actress Harriet Smithson (30) at the British Embassy in Paris, France

  3. The British Royal Navy arrives at the Falkland Islands and reasserts sovereignty

    In December 1832, the United Kingdom sent two naval vessels to re-assert British sovereignty over the Falkland Islands (Spanish: Islas Malvinas), after the United Provinces of the Río de la Plata...

  4. Britain seizes control of Falkland Islands in South Atlantic

    The occupation of the Falkland Islands and South Georgia and the South Sandwich Islands was the short-lived Argentine occupation of a group of British islands in the South Atlantic whose sovereignty...

  5. Boston Academy of Music, first US music school, is established

    Boston Academy of Music, first US music school, is established

More from the 1830s

Frequently Asked Questions

What happened on July 25, 1832?
The Granite Railway was one of the first railroads in the United States, built to carry granite from Quincy, Massachusetts, to a dock on the Neponset River in Milton. From there boats carried the heavy stone to Charlestown for construction of the Bunker Hill Monument. The Granite Railway is popularly termed the first commercial railroad in the United States, as it was the first chartered railway to evolve into a common carrier without an intervening closure.
Why is First railroad accident in US, Granite Railway, Quincy, Massachusetts, kills one significant?
The Granite Railway was one of the first railroads in the United States, built to carry granite from Quincy, Massachusetts, to a dock on the Neponset River in Milton.

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