Georgist Conference in O'Fallon, Part Five
Sep. 9th, 2017 02:31 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
ndrosenOn the morning of Friday, July 28, 2017, we heard from Andrew Theising, a Professor at the University of Southern Illinois, after first hearing from Dan Killoren, a local Georgist. Professor Theising displayed an image of Saint Louis, Missouri, and East Saint Louis, Illinois. East Saint Louis was greener, with fewer buildings. Why?
He called attention to the area between the Poplar Street and Eads Street bridges, with a view of the Arch. Covington, Kentucky, and St. Louis, Missouri do better than East Saint Louis.
In 1780, Captain James Piggott bought some of the Illinois floodplain, and built a bridge over Cahokia Creek. In 1795, when Missouri was still part of a Spanish colony, he obtained a perpetual license to operate a ferry service between Illinois and Spanish territory. Later, the Widow Piggott decided to sell off the land and ferry; McKnight and Brady bought five sevenths of it.
In 1819, Samuel Wiggins bought the remaining two sevenths, which happened to be riverfront property. He then went to the Illinois Legislature, and obtained a monopoly. The Wiggins Ferry Company made lots of money, and controlled everything going across the river. Later, the Wiggins Ferry Company hired James Eads, a great engineer, and built a bridge over the Mississippi, the Eads Bridge, at a cost of $10 million, equivalent to about $215 million today. The bridge was finished in 1874, and in 1875, the WFC defaulted on its loans.
J.P. Morgan bought the bridge for $2 million, and made a deal with Wiggins for a 75/25 split of the profits, with the proviso that the ferry was not to carry rail traffic over the river.
In 1880, Jay Gould bought the bridge from Morgan. He already owned railroads, and he bought the riverfront tracks, so the ferry starved, and Gould bought that. He rerouted the Union Pacific Railroad.
To be continued.
He called attention to the area between the Poplar Street and Eads Street bridges, with a view of the Arch. Covington, Kentucky, and St. Louis, Missouri do better than East Saint Louis.
In 1780, Captain James Piggott bought some of the Illinois floodplain, and built a bridge over Cahokia Creek. In 1795, when Missouri was still part of a Spanish colony, he obtained a perpetual license to operate a ferry service between Illinois and Spanish territory. Later, the Widow Piggott decided to sell off the land and ferry; McKnight and Brady bought five sevenths of it.
In 1819, Samuel Wiggins bought the remaining two sevenths, which happened to be riverfront property. He then went to the Illinois Legislature, and obtained a monopoly. The Wiggins Ferry Company made lots of money, and controlled everything going across the river. Later, the Wiggins Ferry Company hired James Eads, a great engineer, and built a bridge over the Mississippi, the Eads Bridge, at a cost of $10 million, equivalent to about $215 million today. The bridge was finished in 1874, and in 1875, the WFC defaulted on its loans.
J.P. Morgan bought the bridge for $2 million, and made a deal with Wiggins for a 75/25 split of the profits, with the proviso that the ferry was not to carry rail traffic over the river.
In 1880, Jay Gould bought the bridge from Morgan. He already owned railroads, and he bought the riverfront tracks, so the ferry starved, and Gould bought that. He rerouted the Union Pacific Railroad.
To be continued.
