1892
Postal Tel. Cable Co. v. N. & W. R. R. Co.
Supreme Court of Virginia
88 Va. 920, 14 S.E. 803
Telegraph Company sought condemnation of Railroad property to post poles and wire. Trial court dismissed proceedings. Supreme Court affirmed. The statute in effect at the time gave the Telegraph Company the right to construct lines “along and parallel” to the railway. The railway was for the benefit of the public but the use was exclusive. There was a reason the legislature used such a term. Therefore, the Telegraph Company was not authorized to condemn the lands of the Railroad, but rather to erect the poles and wires alongside but not in the strip of land belonging to the Railroad.
Summary prepared by Judge Jonathan Apgar, 23rd Judicial Circuit in Virginia, for the William & Mary Property Rights Project, Marshall-Wythe School of Law, William & Mary ©2019.
Back to Eminent Domain Case Finder Main Page
To Case Name Index
To Topic Index
To Date Index