December 1855. In order to bring the railroad to Iowa City in a timely fashion, the city agreed to pay the Mississippi & Missouri Railroad an extra $50,000 if the 55-mile track from Davenport to Iowa City was completed on or before the contractual agreement date of New Year’s Day, 1856. While construction had been successful throughout the year, on Christmas Day 1855, the M&M still had two-and-a-half miles to go. As temperatures dropped, machinery froze and numbed the hands and feet of workers, greatly retarding the work.
Yet despite the many obstacles, the last rail was laid by the stroke of midnight, and yes, the $50,000 bonus to M&M was paid!
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