Mark Brick Pomeroy (1 results)

Various. Condition: Very good. There are three promotional items for the Atlantic-Pacific Railway Company in this lot: An 1892 advertising cover for the company featuring an illustration of the Pulitzer Building in New York City, where its company headquarters were located. In nice shape. A postcard-sized information card featuring a map of the proposed Denver Apex and Western Railway tunnel through the mountains, which would have cut the distance from the Missouri River to the Pacific Coast by 233 miles. In nice shape A long broadside (5.25" x 16") featuring two illustrations: the same cross-sectional diagram that is on the map card and map of the United States showing the location of people who had already invested in the project. In nice shape with some mailing folds. The broadside text includes detailed information about the company and its proposed tunnel. The company was incorporated in 1894 to build a tunnel "straight through the backbone of the Rocky Mountains" that would be over 25,200 feet long, 40 feet wide and 20 feet deep, large enough to allow for a double-track, with sidings to allow "running cars into and out of the veins of gold, silver and lead ore. It also includes a description of the stock offering: 700,000 shares with a par value of $10 each, an explanation of how to purchase an 8 percent bond, and other ownership and financial information. The president of the company, Mark M. "Brick" Pomeroy, signed the broadside in print . While Pomeroy was prospecting in the Rocky Mountains, he realized that the distance through the Great Divide under Mount Kelso would need to be no more than five miles long. This would provide Denver with a gateway to the Pacific and shorten the railway distance between Denver and Salt Lake City by more than 250 miles. A tunnel through these mountains would also provide Denver with a gateway through the Rockies and shorten the railway distance between Denver and Salt Lake City by more than two hundred and fifty miles. Legal and financial problems forced the company into foreclosure in 1883. In 1884 a new company was organized under the name of the Atlantic-Pacific Railway Company. Disgruntled investors suggested Pomeroy was guilty of fraud, and although not convicted, he died in poverty in 1896. (For more information, see "Atlantic-Pacific Railway Tunnel Company - Colorado 1885" at the Scripophily website, Map of the Atlantic-Pacific Railway Tunnel and the Denver, Apex and Western Ry. at the Rudderman Rare Maps website, and "Atlantic-Pacific Tunnel" at the Mines Repository website.) Stock certificates from the company occasionally appear for sale on ebay or at auctions. Promotional material like this lot is much less common. .