Incorporated on Dec. 21, 1839 as the Memphis Branch Railroad and Steamboat Co. of Georgia, the Rome Railroad was the first railroad in the South designed to connect steamboat traffic to railroads. In Dec., 1849 the 18 mile track from Kingston to Rome was completed. From Rome, cotton and other commodities were shipped downriver on the Coosa to Gadsden, Alabama, and other points. In April, 1862 the “William R. Smith” on the Rome Railroad picked up the chase in Kingston to pursue the Andrew Raiders during the Great Locomotive Chase. In July 1864 the Rome RR was taken over by the U.S. Military and played a key role in sending troops from Rome to the Allatoona Pass Battle which averted a Union Military disaster. In Oct., 1943 the “Little Rome RR” made its last run.