Savage Rail Road

The Savage Rail Road Company was formed in 1835 to connect the Washington Branch to the Savage Factory and Guilford Quarries to the main line and ran until about 1844.  Over the objections of George Williams, his brothers Amos A. Williams and Cumberland D. Williams chartered the Rail Road Company in 1835 and was published in the September 22, 1835 Baltimore Gazette and Daily Advertiser.

It was very clear the intent of this company – “construction and repair of a Rail-Road from the lateral branch of the Baltimore and Ohio Rail-Road, to the city of Washington, and connected therewith; commencing near to the point where said lateral branch crosses the little Patuxent, and extending up said little Patuxent, passing by the Savage Factory, for a distance of not more than six miles”.  The length of the Patuxent Branch ended up being about 4.1 miles when it was completed in 1901.

The Savage Rail Road Company operated using horse power and never ended up extending beyond the Savage Factory itself.  Amos Williams, the company agent at the Factory, was one of the primary forces for this company and many of the stockholders were not pleased with this investment or the 10 percent annual fee for the cost of the rail road he wanted to charge the Savage Manufacturing Company. This was contrasted with the highest railroad dividend of 6% being charged by the Providence Rail Road.  George Williams wrote in a deposition that “Amos A. Williams had his own way out there. That was the way the use of the Road was forced on the Company”.

A $2,000-$3,000 bridge was constructed to Savage Factory by crossing the Little Patuxent River.  The Company lasted until about July of 1844.   In 1847, The Baltimore Sun reported that the bridge was washed away (Oct 9), but archaeologists in 1985 believed they may have found the remains of that original bridge buried beneath the river where the existing Bollman Bridge stands. More research is needed to determine whether other rail bridges were attempted to reconnect Savage Factory to the mainline before the Factory was sold at auction to William Baldwin.