Accessory Transit Company
During the 1850s Gold Rush, Cornelius Vanderbilt and others created the Accessory Transit Company to move people from the East Coast to California faster than overland travel. The route used steamships and a quick land crossing: depart New York by ship to Grey Town in Mosquitia, travel up the Rio San Juan to Lake Nicaragua, cross the lake to Rivas, ride a short stagecoach across the isthmus to San Juan del Sur, then take another ship to San Francisco. It offered the cheapest way west and carried thousands of passengers each month, starting around $300 and later dropping to about $150.
The route drew big profits and trouble. In 1854 the US Navy bombarded San Juan del Norte after locals demanded the company leave their land. In 1855 the filibuster William Walker took over Nicaragua and seized the ATC’s assets, but Vanderbilt and his allies drove him out in 1857.
After regaining control, Vanderbilt made a deal with the Pacific Mail Steamship Company and the United States Mail Steamship Company: stop running the Nicaragua route in exchange for a monthly payment of $40,000 (later raised to $56,000 when Vanderbilt threatened to reopen the line). The ATC did not operate again.
Vanderbilt’s original contract also gave him exclusive rights to build a Nicaragua Canal until 1861. However, Nicaragua’s political instability and volcanic activity led many to see Panama as the better location for a cross-Central American canal.
This page was last edited on 2 February 2026, at 21:05 (CET).