Gulf, Mobile and Ohio Railroad Co. - 1957 dated $1,000 Railway Bond - Great History

$1,000 5% Bond printed by Security-Columbian Banknote Company. Coupons attached at top and side. The Gulf, Mobile and Ohio Railroad, designated by the reporting mark GMO, was a Class I railroad operating in the central region of the United States. Its main routes connected Mobile, Alabama, and New Orleans, Louisiana, to St. Louis and Kansas City, Missouri, as well as to Chicago, Illinois. Additionally, the GM&O provided service to Montgomery and Birmingham, Alabama, and Memphis, Tennessee, through its two parallel lines traversing eastern Mississippi. The Gulf, Mobile and Northern Railroad was established in 1917 as a reorganization of the New Orleans, Mobile and Chicago Railroad. In 1938, the GM&O was incorporated to facilitate the merger of the Gulf, Mobile and Northern Railroad with the Mobile and Ohio Railroad, a process completed in 1940.

Subsequently, in 1947, the GM&O acquired and merged with the Alton Railroad. Isaac B. Tigrett, originally from Jackson, Tennessee, served as president of the GM&N from 1920 and led the GM&O from 1938 to 1952, transforming the railroad from a nearly insolvent entity into a prosperous operation. He was the great-uncle of Isaac Tigrett, the founder of Hard Rock Cafe, who also hailed from Jackson. From 1952 until 1972, the GM&O's headquarters were located at 104 St. Francis Street in Mobile, Alabama. During this time, G. Paul Brock held the position of President of the GM&O Railroad. The railroad maintained its passenger terminal at Beauregard Street for additional office space.