Crocker, Charles (1822–1888)

US merchant, railroad builder, capitalist. He helped to form the Central Pacific Railroad and from 1863–69 supervised its construction across the Sierra Nevada to its junction with the Union Pacific. In 1871 he assumed the presidency of the Southern Pacific Railroad and he merged it with the Central Pacific in 1884.

He was born in Troy, New York. His family moved to Indiana in 1836 where he established an iron forge (1845); he sold this when he went to California where he took up gold mining. Realizing that moneycould be madelling goods, he opened a store in Sacramento in 1852 that made him rich within a few years; by 1860 he was elected to the state legislature. He was also active in banking, property, irrigation, and other projects.