Cornelius Vanderbilt: Entrepreneur In The Railroad And Shipping Business

Cornelius Vanderbilt was an entrepreneur in the railroad and shipping business. Vanderbilt was a self-made multi-millionaire who became one of the wealthiest Americans of the 19th century. Cornelius Vanderbilt was born on May 27, 1794, in the Port Richmond area of Staten Island, New York. During his childhood he worked with his father, who was also in the transportation business. Vanderbilt’s father shipped cargo from Staten Island, New York, where they lived, and Manhattan. In 1817, Vanderbilt worked as a ferry captain for a wealthy businessman who owned a commercial steamboat service that worked between New Jersey and New York. After working as a steamship captain, Vanderbilt he started a business for himself in the late 1820s, and then became one of the country’s largest steamship operators. During this time he gained a reputation for being
His route was the fastest route across Panama, and a lot speedier than the route around Cape Horn at the southern tip of South America. Vanderbilt earned more than $1 million a year from his success.
In the 1860s, he moved his focus to the railroad industry,that is when he built another empire and helped make railroad transportation more effective for people and goods to go across the country. He started to take control of multiple railway lines going from Chicago and New York and created an interregional railroad system. Vanderbilt also was behind the construction of Grand Central Depot in Manhattan, which opened in 1871. The station was torn down and replaced by Grand Central Terminal.
Cornelius Vanderbilt died on January 4, 1877, in his house, No. 10 Washington Place, after being kept in his rooms for eight months. The cause of his death was exhaustion, which was caused by a long suffering from a lot of chronic disorders. He was worth more than $100 million when he