What was the first chartered railroad in the United States?

The Granite Railway was the first chartered railroad in the United States.

It began running from Quincy, Massachusetts, to the Neponset River, a distance of three miles, on October 7, 1826.

Its principal cargo consisted of blocks of granite for use in building the Bunker Hill Monument in Charlestown.

The railway later became part of the New York, New Haven, and Hartford Railroad.