The Missouri Pacific Railroad, also known as the MoPac, was one of the first railroads west of the Mississippi River in the United States. The discovery of gold in California in 1848 ignited the need for more rapid and dependable transportation to the West. St. Louis, Missouri leaders soon visualized a railroad to the Pacific Ocean. These leaders secured a Missouri charter in 1849 for the Pacific Railroad, extending from St. Louis, Missouri, to California. On July 4, 1851, the ground-breaking ceremony for the Pacific Railroad was held in St. Louis, and the first section of the track was completed in 1852.

The Civil War interrupted the railroad’s expansion, but afterward was soon resumed, and by 1865, it was the first railroad to serve Kansas City.

In 1872, the Pacific Railroad was reorganized as the Missouri Pacific Railroad due to high debts. The following year, Jay Gould, an extremely controversial New York financier, invested in several western railroads, including the Union Pacific, Kansas Pacific, Denver Pacific, and the Central Pacific. Seeing the Missouri Pacific Railroad as a threat, he bought a controlling interest in the company in 1879 and became its president. Gould soon developed a system extending through Colorado, Nebraska, Arkansas, Texas, and Louisiana. By the 1980s, MoPac owned almost 11,500 miles of railroad and over 1,500 locomotives in 11 states from Chicago in the east, Pueblo, Colorado in the west, Omaha, Nebraska in the north, and south to the Mexican border at Laredo, Texas.

Gould remained in control of the Missouri Pacific until 1915. Two years later, the line was merged with the St. Louis, Iron Mountain, and Southern Railway (SLIMS) and reorganized. Later, the company acquired or gained a controlling interest in other Texas lines, including the Gulf Coast Lines, the International-Great Northern Railroad, and the Texas and Pacific Railway.

The railroad thrived through the early 20th Century until railroad traffic, especially passenger service, dwindled. In the mid-1960s, the Missouri Pacific aggressively began to discontinue passenger trains. On December 22, 1982, the Missouri Pacific merged with Union Pacific and Western Pacific Railroad companies to create the most significant system. The Missouri Pacific, though now a part of the Union Pacific System, maintained its own corporate and commercial identity until January 1, 1997.

©Kathy Alexander/Legends of America, updated April 2024.

Also See:

A Century of Railroad Building

Linking the Oceans By Railroad

Railroad Main Page

Vintage Photographs of Railroads & Depots

Sources: See Credits & Research