Restrictions to Access

No restrictions. Open for research.

Copyright Notice

Copyright is retained by the authors of items in these papers, or their descendants, as stipulated by United States copyright law.

Preferred Citation

[Identification of item], in the Henry Bacon Papers, #36, Southern Historical Collection, The Wilson Library, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill.

Alternate Form of Material

Six volumes, 1876-1891, available in microfilm.

Acquisitions Information

prior to 1940

Additional Descriptive Resources

A more complete finding aid for this collection is available at the Southern Historical Collection.

Sensitive Materials Statement

Manuscript collections and archival records may contain materials with sensitive or confidential information that is protected under federal or state right to privacy laws and regulations, the North Carolina Public Records Act (N.C.G.S. § 132 1 et seq.), and Article 7 of the North Carolina State Personnel Act (Privacy of State Employee Personnel Records, N.C.G.S. § 126-22 et seq.). Researchers are advised that the disclosure of certain information pertaining to identifiable living individuals represented in this collection without the consent of those individuals may have legal ramifications (e.g., a cause of action under common law for invasion of privacy may arise if facts concerning an individual's private life are published that would be deemed highly offensive to a reasonable person) for which the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill assumes no responsibility.

The following terms from Library of Congress Subject Headings suggest topics, persons, geography, etc. interspersed through the entire collection; the terms do not usually represent discrete and easily identifiable portions of the collection--such as folders or items.

Clicking on a subject heading below will take you into the University Library's online catalog.

• Bacon, Henry, 1822-1891.
• Boston and Maine Railroad--History.
• Cape Fear River (N.C.)
• Civil engineers--United States--History--19th century.
• Great Falls and Conway Railroad--History.
• Illinois Central Railroad Company--History.
• Public works--North Carolina--Brunswick County--History--19th century.
• Public works--North Carolina--New Hanover County--History--19th century.
• Public works--North Carolina--Wilmington--History--19th century.
• Railroads--Design and construction--History--19th century.
• Smithville (N.C.)--Social conditions.
• Southport (N.C.)--History--19th century.
• United States. Army. Corps of Engineers--History--19th century.

• William B. McKoy Papers (#471) Southern Historical Collection, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill.
• William Berry McKoy Papers Duke University Libraries.

Henry Bacon (1822-1891) was a civil engineer, railroad executive, stockbroker. He was a resident of Massachusetts; then Smithville (now Southport), N.C., 1867-1882; and Wilmington, N.C., 1882-1891. Bacon played a prominent part in the expansion of railroads throughout New England, the Middle West, and eastern North Carolina.

The collection includes business papers and personal correspondence, 1836-1873, of Bacon, relating to the Boston and Maine, Great Falls and Conway, and Illinois Central railroads during their periods of building and expansion. Also included are maps, deeds, account books, and journals and diaries, which span the years 1867-1891, when Bacon lived in Smithville (now Southport), and Wilmington, N.C. The papers reflect Bacon's work, from 1876 until his death, with the United States Army Corps of Engineers on coastal surveys, channel improvements, port facilities, railroads, and army installations in Wilmington, along the Cape Fear River, and in Brunswick and New Hanover Counties.