The railroad’s line to Waukesha was completed early in 1851, and on February 25 came the first formal trip between Milwaukee and Waukesha.

Of course, there was a great amount of civic fuss and hoopla when that first train ran, and when other first trains came to other cities. Standard procedure was to have parades, civic banquets, speeches by politicians, strongly favorable stories and editorials in the local paper, cannon shooting, dog barking and other such things. After all, it was a time when many people saw a train for the first time in their lives.

Many of these things happened on that 20-mile inaugural trip of the Milwaukee & Mississippi. People lined the tracks along the entire route.

Things went so well that by April 14 of 1851 the M&M had begun operating two daily trains between Milwaukee and Waukesha. This was quite a thing, in a time when a 20-mile trip was a hard day’s journey by horse and wagon.

Construction to Waukesha

An entry from Four Generations on the Line:

- February 26, 1851

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