1924 Poole Bros. Map of the 'Dixie Route' from Chicago to Florida (Dixie Flyer)

This is a 1924 Poole Brothers map of the 'Dixie Route' from Chicago, Illinois, to Jacksonville, Florida, which was operated by the named passenger train, the Dixie Flyer. The Dixie Flyer brought passengers from Chicago and St. Louis to Jacksonville for over 60 years.

A Closer Look

The map highlights the Dixie Route from Chicago to Jacksonville and connecting railroads. Stops along the Flyer's route are labeled, including Evansville, Indiana; Nashville, Tennessee; Chattanooga, Tennessee; Atlanta, Georgia' Macon, Georgia; and Jacksonville, Florida, along with the branch to St. Louis, Missouri, which was the other terminus of the Dixie Flyer. The railroads that operated each section of the route are identified with abbreviations. No state borders are illustrated, lending a more artistic flair to this piece.

The Dixie Flyer

The Dixie Flyer was a named passenger train that operated from 1892 until 1966. The first service known as the Dixie Flyer operated between Nashville, Tennessee, and Jacksonville, Florida, and was only two sleeper cars. Service as a full train from Chicago, Illinois, to Jacksonville, Florida, began in January 1904, which caused the overnight sleeper cars to be discontinued. Several railroads mutually provided the service from Chicago to Jacksonville. They were the Chicago and Eastern Illinois; the Louisville and Nashville; the Nashville, Chattanooga, and St. Louis; the Central of Georgia; and the Atlantic Coast Line. The Florida Coast Line and the Atlantic Coast Line provided continuing service to Miami. The Nashville, Chattanooga, and St. Louis Railway had operated the Dixie Flyer from its inception in the 1890s and put time and effort into advertising and promoting the service. This proved beneficial when competition finally began to enter the market for rail travel from the Midwest to Florida in the 1910s. At the train's peak in the 1920s, as many as three different named trains, the Dixie Flyer, Dixie Limited, and Dixie Express, would operate during certain times of the year. The Dixie Flyer 's final run was a round trip between Atlanta and Chattanooga on January 20, 1966.

Publication History and Census

This map was created and published by Poole Brothers in October 1924 and published by Poole Brothers in a 'Dixie Route' brochure in September 1925. A record exists in OCLC for this piece, but it represents a digital copy that has been populated throughout the database.