The Florida Railroad was Florida's first cross-peninsular railroad. David L. Yulee, a Florida resident and United States Senator, incorporated the Florida Railroad Company in 1853. Construction of the line began at Fernandina Beach in 1856 and was completed to Cedar Key in 1861, covering 155 miles. The railroad passed through the present-day communities of Baldwin, Starke, Waldo, Gainesville, Archer, and Bronson. Stations in Nassau County included Fernandina Beach, O'Neil, Lofton, Yulee, Whittsville, Italia, Callahan, Crawford, Dahoma, Inglehame, and Bryceville. The route roughly parallels present-day State Road 200 from Fernandina Beach to Callahan and present-day US 301 from Callahan south to the Nassau County line. Its construction required intensive manual labor, and the company recruited slaves and free laborers to fell trees, drive spikes, and lay crossties and rails. The railroad used a broad gauge of five feet between rails with heavy rail generally weighing sixty pounds per linear yard, and its yellow pine crossties were eight feet long, seven inches wide, and seven inches high. Wooden bridges crossed Nassau County's many creeks and rivers, including Kingsley Creek, Boggy River, Lofton Creek, Mills Swamp, and Plummer Swamp. Completed in 1861, the railroad let ships from eastern United States ports avoid the lengthy and often dangerous passage through the Keys to reach Gulf Coast markets. Cargoes were unloaded at Fernandina Beach, carried across the state by rail to Cedar Key, and then reloaded for New Orleans, Mobile, and other destinations. The line also benefited agricultural enterprises in Florida's interior, including sugar, cotton, tobacco, cattle, and fruits and vegetables, as well as the emerging naval stores and timbering industries. As Florida's roadways modernized in the twentieth century, the railroad's importance declined. Tracks were removed in parts of Nassau, Alachua, and Levy Counties beginning in the 1930's. The railroad remains active in Nassau County from Fernandina Beach to Yulee and from Callahan south to the county line, and remains of the abandoned line can still be found along the 15-mile segment between Yulee and Callahan.