The Columbus and Rome Railway is a historic railroad that operated in the U.S. state

U.S. state

A U.S. state is any one of the 50 federated states of the United States of America that share sovereignty with the federal government. Because of this shared sovereignty, an American is a citizen both of the federal entity and of his or her state of domicile. Four states use the official title of...

 of Georgia

Georgia (U.S. state)

Georgia is a state located in the southeastern United States. It was established in 1732, the last of the original Thirteen Colonies. The state is named after King George II of Great Britain. Georgia was the fourth state to ratify the United States Constitution, on January 2, 1788...

.

Chartered in 1871 as the North and South Railroad

North and South Railroad

The North and South Railroad of Georgia was chartered in 1870 to build a railroad from Columbus to Rome, Georgia. In 1878, after building about , the railroad went bankrupt and was reorganized as the Columbus and Rome Railroad in 1879....

, the Columbus and Rome Railway opened in 1873 with a 20 miles (32.2 km) line going north out of Columbus, Georgia

Columbus, Georgia

Columbus is a city in and the county seat of Muscogee County, Georgia, United States, with which it is consolidated. As of the 2010 census, the city had a population of 189,885. It is the principal city of the Columbus, Georgia metropolitan area, which, in 2009, had an estimated population of 292,795...

. The railroad was eventually extended to Hamilton, Georgia

Hamilton, Georgia

Hamilton is a city in and the county seat of Harris County, Georgia, United States. It is part of the Columbus, Georgia-Alabama Metropolitan Statistical Area...

, and by 1888 was operating as far as Greenville

Greenville, Georgia

Greenville is a city in Meriwether County, Georgia, United States. The population was 946 at the 2000 census. The city is the county seat of Meriwether County. southwest of Atlanta...

. At some time during the final construction to Greenville, the railroad was acquired by and consolidated into the Savannah and Western Railroad

Savannah and Western Railroad

The Savannah and Western Railroad is a historic railroad that was located in Georgia.The S&W was incorporated in 1885, and acquired property in 1888 through a consolidation of seven different railroads owned by the Central Railroad and Banking Company of Georgia...

, a subsidiary of the Central of Georgia Railway.