Portal:Trains/Selected article/Week 21, 2013

Captain William P. Halliday (July 21, 1827 – September 22, 1899) was an American steamboat captain, banker, printer, hotel owner, and businessman. Halliday began his professional career working on steamboats on the Mississippi and Ohio rivers and eventually became a captain of a steamboat based out of Louisville, Kentucky. A pioneer in the river and railroad transportation businesses, Halliday was responsible for the expansion of Cairo, Illinois, following the American Civil War. Before the war, Halliday predicted that it would greatly impact river and railroad transportation and moved to Cairo, Illinois, a town at a critical position, at the confluence of the Ohio and Mississippi rivers. Soon after relocating, Halliday established many businesses that focused on river transportation and general merchandise. During the war, Halliday became good friends with General Ulysses S. Grant, and this relationship increased his personal fortune considerably through favorable military contracts. After the Civil War, Halliday, his four brothers, and other family members rapidly expanded their business interests in the region. Halliday purchased real estate, businesses, hotels, mines, railroads (including the Cairo and Vincennes Railway), lumber yards, steamboats, and furniture companies, and took advantage of many other business opportunities. He served on the transportation committee of the Illinois Central Railroad, and was closely associated with the Mobile and Ohio Railroad through the railroad's use of his wharfboats. His business success led to the advancement of the region and specifically contributed to the development of Cairo and Hallidayboro, Illinois.