Editing Collis Potter Huntington (section)

{{Short description|American railroad magnate (1821–1900)}}
{{Use mdy dates|date=January 2023}}

{{Infobox person
| name          = Collis Potter Huntington
| image         = Collis_P_Huntington_by_Stephen_W_Shaw.jpg
| caption       = Collis P. Huntington, c. 1872 by [[Stephen William Shaw|Stephen W. Shaw]]
| image_size    =
| birth_date    = {{Birth date|1821|10|22}}<ref name="Evans1954">{{cite book |first=Cerinda W. |last=Evans |title=Collis Potter Huntington |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=ZXrVAAAAMAAJ |year=1954 |publisher=[[Mariners' Museum and Park|Mariners' Museum]]}}</ref>
| birth_place   = [[Harwinton, Connecticut]], U.S.
| spouse        = {{plainlist|
* {{marriage | Elizabeth Stillman Stoddard | September 16, 1844 | 1883 | end=died}}
* {{marriage | [[Arabella Huntington]] | July 12, 1884}}
}}
| death_date    = {{Death date and age|1900|8|13|1821|10|22}}
| death_place   = [[Camp Pine Knot]], [[Raquette Lake]], [[New York (state)|New York]], U.S.
| resting_place = [[Woodlawn Cemetery, Bronx|Woodlawn Cemetery]],<br>[[Bronx, New York]], U.S.
| nationality   = American
| known_for     = [[First transcontinental railroad]]
| employer      = [[Central Pacific Railroad]]<br>[[Southern Pacific Railroad]]<br>[[Chesapeake and Ohio Railway|Chesapeake & Ohio Railway]]
| signature     = Signature of Collis Potter Huntington.jpg
}}

'''Collis Potter Huntington''' (October 22, 1821 – August 13, 1900)<ref>{{Cite web |date=23 May 2015 |title=Huntington, Collis Potter, 1821-1900 |url=https://id.loc.gov/authorities/names/n88609739.html |access-date=14 February 2025 |website=Library of Congress}}</ref> was an American industrialist and railway magnate. He was one of the [[Big Four (Central Pacific Railroad)|Big Four]] of western railroading (along with [[Leland Stanford]], [[Mark Hopkins, Jr.|Mark Hopkins]], and [[Charles Crocker]]) who invested in [[Theodore Judah]]'s idea to build the [[Central Pacific Railroad]] as part of the first U.S. [[First transcontinental railroad|transcontinental railroad]].<ref>{{Cite web|title=Huntington, Collis Potter (1821-1900), railroad builder and financier|url=https://www.anb.org/view/10.1093/anb/9780198606697.001.0001/anb-9780198606697-e-1000841|access-date=October 26, 2021|website=American National Biography|year=2000 |language=en|doi=10.1093/anb/9780198606697.article.1000841|isbn=978-0-19-860669-7 |last1=Huddleston |first1=Eugene L.}}</ref> Huntington helped lead and develop other major interstate lines, such as the [[Southern Pacific Railroad]] and the [[Chesapeake and Ohio Railway|Chesapeake & Ohio Railway]] (C&O), which he was recruited to help complete. The C&O, completed in 1873, fulfilled a long-held dream of Virginians of a rail link from the [[James River (Virginia)|James River]] at [[Richmond, Virginia|Richmond]] to the [[Ohio River|Ohio River Valley]]. The new railroad facilities adjacent to the river there resulted in expansion of the former small town of [[Guyandotte, West Virginia]], into part of a new city which was named [[Huntington, West Virginia|Huntington]] in his honor.

Turning attention to the eastern end of the line at Richmond, Huntington directed the C&O's [[Peninsula Extension]] in 1881–82, which opened a pathway for [[West Virginia]] [[bituminous coal]] to reach new [[coal pier]]s on the harbor of [[Hampton Roads]] for export shipping. He also is credited with the development of [[Newport News Shipbuilding and Drydock Company]], as well as the incorporation of [[Newport News, Virginia]], as a new [[independent city]]. After his death, both his nephew [[Henry E. Huntington]] and his stepson [[Archer M. Huntington]] continued his work at Newport News. All three are considered founding fathers in the community, with local features named in honor of each.

Much of the railroad and industrial development which Collis P. Huntington envisioned and led are still important activities in the early 21st century. The Southern Pacific is now part of the [[Union Pacific Railroad]], and the C&O became part of [[CSX Transportation]], each major U.S. railroad systems. West Virginia coal is still transported by rail to be loaded onto [[collier (ship type)|collier]]s at Hampton Roads. Nearby, [[Huntington Ingalls Industries]] operates the massive shipyard at Newport News.

From his base in Washington, Huntington was a lobbyist for the Central Pacific and the Southern Pacific in the 1870s and 1880s. The Big Four had built a powerful political machine, which he had a large role in running. He was generous in providing bribes to politicians and congressmen. Revelation of his misdeeds in 1883 made him one of the most hated railroad men in the country.

Huntington defended himself: 
{{blockquote|The motives back of my actions have been honest ones and results have redounded far more to the benefit of California than they have to my own.<ref>{{cite book |first=Dennis |last=Drabelle |title=The Great American Railroad War: How Ambrose Bierce and Frank Norris Took On the Notorious Central Pacific Railroad |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=lSMPBuHcCbUC&pg=PA178 |year=2012 |publisher=St. Martin's Press |page=178 |isbn=9781250015051}}</ref>}}

In 1968, Huntington was inducted into the [[Hall of Great Westerners]] of the [[National Cowboy & Western Heritage Museum]].<ref>{{cite web |title=Hall of Great Westerners |url=https://nationalcowboymuseum.org/hall-of-great-westerners/ |website=National Cowboy & Western Heritage Museum |access-date=November 22, 2019}}</ref>