RN-C1 on Chatham Rail Road Co. check, Raleigh, NC 1870 XF

This is a remainder bank check from the Raleigh National Bank of North Carolina, issued by the short-lived Chatham Rail Road Company. It lists company officers W. J. Hawkins as President and W. W. Vass as Treasurer, and features an engraved illustration of a building and horse-drawn carriage on the left side. This check is unlisted in Castenholz.

The Chatham Rail Road Company was chartered in 1855 to construct a line from Raleigh southward to the coal fields of the Deep River region in Chatham County. Although initial grading began quickly, progress was halted by the onset of the Civil War, leaving the line unfinished as Union forces moved through the area in 1865. In the post-war era, under the leadership of President William J. Hawkins (whose name appears on the check above), the company secured state funding and resumed construction, eventually completing the line by 1870. Despite its successful completion, the company was short-lived in its original form; it was reorganized and sold at auction in December 1871, becoming the Raleigh & Augusta Air Line Railroad.