Crossroads of a Continent
eBook - ePub

Crossroads of a Continent

Missouri Railroads, 1851ā€“1921

  1. 394 pages
  2. English
  3. ePUB (mobile friendly)
  4. Available on iOS & Android
eBook - ePub

Crossroads of a Continent

Missouri Railroads, 1851ā€“1921

About this book

"A masterful synthesis of this history of railroads in Missouri . . . a unique and wonderful book." ā€”Jeff Schramm, Missouri University of Science and Technology, Missouri Historical Review

Crossroads of a Continent: Missouri Railroads, 1851-1921Ā tells the story of the state's railroads and their vital role in American history. Missouri and St. Louis, its largest city, are strategically located within the American Heartland. On July 4, 1851, when the Pacific Railroad of Missouri began construction in St. Louis, the city took its first step to becoming a major hub for railroads. By the 1920s, the state was crisscrossed with railways reaching toward all points of the compass.

Authors Peter A. Hansen, Don L. Hofsommer, and Carlos Arnaldo Schwantes explore the history of Missouri railroads through personal, absorbing tales of the cutthroat competition between cities and between railroads that meant the difference between prosperity and obscurity, the ambitions and dreams of visionaries Fred Harvey and Arthur Stilwell, and the country's excitement over the St. Louis World's Fair of 1904.

Beautifully illustrated with over 100 color images of historical railway ephemera,Ā  Crossroads of a ContinentĀ is an engaging history of key American railroads and of Missouri's critical contribution to the American story.

Frequently asked questions

Yes, you can cancel anytime from the Subscription tab in your account settings on the Perlego website. Your subscription will stay active until the end of your current billing period. Learn how to cancel your subscription.
No, books cannot be downloaded as external files, such as PDFs, for use outside of Perlego. However, you can download books within the Perlego app for offline reading on mobile or tablet. Learn more here.
Perlego offers two plans: Essential and Complete
  • Essential is ideal for learners and professionals who enjoy exploring a wide range of subjects. Access the Essential Library with 800,000+ trusted titles and best-sellers across business, personal growth, and the humanities. Includes unlimited reading time and Standard Read Aloud voice.
  • Complete: Perfect for advanced learners and researchers needing full, unrestricted access. Unlock 1.4M+ books across hundreds of subjects, including academic and specialized titles. The Complete Plan also includes advanced features like Premium Read Aloud and Research Assistant.
Both plans are available with monthly, semester, or annual billing cycles.
We are an online textbook subscription service, where you can get access to an entire online library for less than the price of a single book per month. With over 1 million books across 1000+ topics, weā€™ve got you covered! Learn more here.
Look out for the read-aloud symbol on your next book to see if you can listen to it. The read-aloud tool reads text aloud for you, highlighting the text as it is being read. You can pause it, speed it up and slow it down. Learn more here.
Yes! You can use the Perlego app on both iOS or Android devices to read anytime, anywhere ā€” even offline. Perfect for commutes or when youā€™re on the go.
Please note we cannot support devices running on iOS 13 and Android 7 or earlier. Learn more about using the app.
Yes, you can access Crossroads of a Continent by Peter A. Hansen,Carlos Arnaldo Schwantes,Don L. Hofsommer in PDF and/or ePUB format, as well as other popular books in Technology & Engineering & Rail Transportation. We have over one million books available in our catalogue for you to explore.

Table of contents

  1. Cover
  2. Title Page
  3. Copyright
  4. Dedication
  5. Contents
  6. Sharing Our Backstory, with Profound Sadness
  7. Preface: Missouri Matters
  8. 1. When Geography Defined Strategy: Commercial Empires and Missouriā€™s First Railroad
  9. 2. Dreams and Schemes: Missouri as Americaā€™s Transportation Frontier
  10. 3. The Formative 1850s: Launching Missouriā€™s First Railroads
  11. 4. Divided Missouri: Railroads and Civil War Disruption
  12. 5. Railroad Rivals: Saint Louis and the Rise of Chicago
  13. 6. Seeking Missouri: Forging a Midwestern Railroad Network
  14. 7. The Masterpiece of Creation: Kansas City Courts the Railroads
  15. 8. The Search for Order: Standardization and System Building
  16. 9. Reorienting the Compass of Opportunity: The Quest for the Southwest
  17. 10. Making Connections: Running Trains and Building Traffic
  18. 11. Trouble on the Tracks: Railroads and Regulation
  19. 12. From Many to One: Saint Louis Union Station
  20. 13. Railroad Visionaries: Fred Harvey and Arthur Stilwell
  21. 14. Meet Me in Saint Louis: Railroads and the 1904 Worldā€™s Fair
  22. 15. Limiteds and Locals: Hotels on Wheels and Slow Trains to Everywhere
  23. 16. The Heart of a Big Small Town: Kansas City Union Station
  24. 17. Missouri-Made: From Streetcars and Interurbans to Doodlebugs and Streamliners
  25. 18. Local Matters: Show-Me Short Lines
  26. 19. Watershed: Regulation, World War I, and the US Railroad Administration
  27. Afterword: A Time of Transition
  28. Suggestions for Further Reading
  29. Index
  30. About the Authors