Time Line - 1830

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• July 31: Detroit & Pontiac Railway Co. incorporation chartered by the Territorial government. First Charter in state. Not built until 1836. [MDOT/DWS]

• December 25: The Best Friend of Charleston is the first engine to pull a train of cars in the United States. It was placed into regular service on the South Carolina Railroad (later the Southern Railway system) at Charleston, South Carolina. [AAAQJ]
  

• Travel from New York to Detroit takes about 2 days (via boat). [STOV]

• The first railroad for passengers and freight was the Baltimore & Ohio which opened for horse-drawn traffic this year. [AARQJ]

• Logging of Michigan and manufacturing of wood products begins this year and spreads up both sides of the lower peninsula by 1855. [BOM]

• Detroit begins construction of radial roads from the city's center, some based on old Indian trails. These were laid out as military roads extending from Detroit to outstate. All of these transportation advantages contributed to make Detroit the gateway to the Northwest and promoted the settlement of Michigan. [BOM]

Time line Key:

• Railroad event in Michigan
• Event relating to mining
• Event related to car ferries
• Event outside of Michigan
• Improvement in Technology
• Railroad built or extended
• Railroad abandoned and/or removed
• Economic panic or depression