The Best Friend
George Walton Williams
Paperback
(Sandlapper Pub Co, Aug. 1, 1991)
A delightfully illustrated book that depicts the true story of "The Best Friend", the first steam locomotive built in America for service on a railroad. The merchants of Charleston, South Carolina in the 1820's had a problem: cotton planters were shipping their crops to Savannah, Georgia, and business in town was bad. The businessmen seized upon a bold plan to bring commerce their way when they decided to build a 140 mile railroad track from Augusta to Charleston: a plan made more daring by the fact that no steam locomotive had ever traveled so great a distance. They ordered a steam locomotive from New York and named it "The Best Friend." Their new friend only brought new found trade and prosperity, but ushered in the era of the railroad age