West Feliciana Parish claimed the West Feliciana Railroad as the third oldest railroad in America. Chartered by the Louisiana legislature on March 25, 1831, it was the first interstate railroad in America and the first standard gauge railroad in America. Supporters saw it as a way to move cotton more quickly from a growing region where Bayou Sara was one of the busiest ports on the river, and the line was planned to run about 26 miles from Bayou Sara to Woodville, Mississippi, with Mississippi authorizing its portion in December 1833. Under the supervision of Judge Edward McGehee, financing was raised through a bank and the public offering of 1,500 shares toward the $150,000 construction cost, and formal construction began on December 22, 1834. The project suffered from the Panic of 1837, unexpectedly difficult terrain, right-of-way disputes with plantation owners, labor strikes, and contractor failures, but the railroad finally completed its first full trip from Bayou Sara to Woodville on October 13, 1842. Though only a mild success because costs rose sharply, it carried cotton to Bayou Sara, was almost completely destroyed during the Civil War when the Union Army confiscated its property, locomotives, and rolling stock, was rebuilt in 1875, operated under J. Burrus McGehee until 1888, then passed through later railroad consolidations into the Illinois Central System, where it remained until operations ceased in 1978.
