railroad towns
Stations spawned communities
Railroad towns are communities that developed primarily because of their location along railway lines, typically serving as stations, junctions, or maintenance points.
Many flourished in the 19th and early 20th centuries as rail transport dominated American commerce and travel: The old railroad towns along Route 66 fell into decline when the highway bypassed them.
Some became major cities; others became ghost towns when rail traffic shifted elsewhere.
- freight transportCommercial movement of goods
- iron horseSlang for steam engine
- boomtownsFast-growing frontier settlements
- boom and bustRecurring economic extremes
- company townEmployer-owned settlement
depot · rail hubs · westward expansion · cattle drive · roundhouses · railway workers · whistle · railway expansion · rail yards · caboose · train whistle · Union Pacific · frontier settlements · grain elevators · tracks · tie · steam · rails
- frontier lifehomesteaders, farmer, homesteading, shepherd, pioneer women
- Long IslandLong Island, Huntington, Hempstead, Montauk, Babylon
- Central Valley historySacramento, Stockton, Fresno, Modesto, Bakersfield
- railroadstrains, train, tracks, track, locomotive
- American landscapeprairies, plains, Great Plains, heartland, Midwest
- city historycity history, city archives, city development, urban development, historic districts
railroad townsport cities
Towns with maritime harbors
seaports · harbor towns · shipping ports · river towns · truck stops