United States Statutes at Large/Volume 4/23rd Congress/2nd Session/Chapter 45
Chap. XLV.—An Act to authorize the construction of a railroad upon the public lands, from Tallahassee to St. Marks, in Florida.
Authority to construct road.Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, That the president, directors, and stockholders organized in virtue of an act of incorporation from the governor and legislative council of the territory of Florida, be, and they are hereby, authorized to construct said road upon the public lands of the United States, so far as the line of said road has been or shall be made to pass through the same.
Land and timber granted to the company.Sec. 2. And be it further enacted, That there be granted to the said railroad company, the land over which the said road shall pass, and thirty feet on each side of the same; and the said company shall have the privilege of using the timber on the public lands, for one hundred yards on each side of said railroad, in the construction and repair of said road.
Ten acres of land granted, at terminus of the road.Sec. 3. And be it further enacted, That there shall be, and is hereby, granted to the said railroad company, ten acres of land, at the junction of the St. Marks and Waculla rivers, (the point where the road terminates,) exclusive of such portions as shall be actually improved by individuals, and now in their occupancy, and also exclusive of such portions as, in the opinion of the President, it may be expedient to preserve for the national defence, or other public use:Proviso. Provided, nevertheless, That the several grants contained in this act, shall revert to the government of the United States, unless the said railroad be begun in five years from the passage of this act, and completed within ten years thereafter.
Provisions to extend to two companies authorized by acts of Alabama and Florida.Sec. 4. And be it further enacted, That the foregoing provisions shall extend to two companies organized under the authority of acts of the legislature of Alabama, and of the governor and legislative council of the territory of Florida, for a railroad from Pensacola to the Chatahoochee river near Columbus in Georgia, and to such other point designated in the act of the legislature of Alabama, in said state. Provisions extended to railroad authorized by acts of Georgia and Florida.And also, another railroad authorized by acts of the legislature of the state of Georgia, and the territory of Florida, from the Saint John’s river in East Florida, to the Suwanee river in said territory, or to Vacasom bay, at the mouth of said river.
And all the rights, privileges and authority conferred in the first and second sections of this act shall extend to the said companies mentioned in this section; and subject to the proviso of the third section, as to the time within which the railroads shall be commenced and completed.
Approved, March 3, 1835.