September 21, 1856
The Illinois Central Railroad (IC) became the world’s longest railroad up to that time with the official completion of 705 miles (1,134.6 kilometers) of tracks. The southernmost point for that railroad was the city of Cairo. The IC line coursed north from that city, which is at the southern tip of Illinois, to the settlement of Centralia. This settlement, which was named in honor of the IC and would be chartered as a city in 1859, marked the point at which the tracks of the IC split off in two directions. The main line ran all the way up to the area near the city of Galena in the northwestern corner of Illinois, while the branch line headed to the ever-growing city of Chicago in the state’s northeastern region.
Along with establishing a new standard for railroad mileage, the IC proved to be a boon for communities along its route in terms of economic prosperity and the speedier transportation of people and goods. An 1857 flyer for the company proclaimed, “A new expeditious and continuous rail road route all the way from Cairo, avoiding the dangerous and uncertain navigation of the Ohio and Mississippi Rivers.” The IC also did not lack for first-rate talent during that time in its history; one of the company’s lawyers was Abraham Lincoln, who was just a few years away from becoming the 16th U.S. president.
Photo Credit: Public Domain
For more information on the Illinois Central Railroad, please check out
https://history.rockfordpubliclibrary.org/localhistory/?p=11054 and https://papersofabrahamlincoln.org/organizations/IL04617
Transportation History 
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