"Principal Cities" of US in 1857

[kurumi]

https://twitter.com/_tessr/status/900870734238449664/photo/1

Before time zones, there were time tables: at noon in Washington, DC, it was 12:02 in Baltimore for example. Railroads needed to know this.

But the most important cities were a different list back then: among the "top 100", 3 cities in Ohio (but no Cleveland) but 6 in Connecticut (including Middletown, pop. 5,000 at the time (46k today)). California: Sacramento only. Colorado: ... well, not yet a state.

[DandyDan]

Minneapolis went by St. Anthony Falls then?

[davewiecking]

Minneapolis went by St. Anthony Falls then?

Actually, if I read Wikipedia correctly, St. Anthony Falls was a separate town on the east side of the Mississippi River (upstream of St. Paul) that later merged with Minneapolis.

[jon daly]

Great stuff. Middletown Conn. was a railroad center of sorts, so I can understand why it is on there. There was no transcontinental connection to Sacramento back then, so I'm not sure why it is included. It is 11:31 in Augusta, Me. Did they have a localized Daylight Savings Time?

This would be good for historians so they could pinpoint events more closely to times in other cities; like the assassination and death of Lincoln. Of course, that was in DC, but when would Boston get that news over the wire?

[Brandon]

Wow.  11:18 in Chicago while, just 90 miles north, 11:17 in Milwaukee.

[abefroman329]

Augusta, Milledgeville, and Savannah, but no Atlanta.

Nova Scotia not part of Canada.

[CNGL-Leudimin]

I was about to say there were no cities from the part of Virginia now known as West Virginia, but then noticed Wheeling. Weird to see Wheeling, Virginia.

[Eth]

Augusta, Milledgeville, and Savannah, but no Atlanta.

Atlanta was, of course, pretty small at the time (pop. ~2500 in 1850, ~9500 in 1860) and not yet the state capital (Milledgeville until 1868). One could probably still have made an argument for its inclusion, though, for the same reasons as given for Middletown above.

[jon daly]

Why am I not seeing 1's post? Did I accidentally put him on ignore?

[webny99]

Why am I not seeing 1's post? Did I accidentally put him on ignore?

I don't see a post from him either, but what makes you think he posted here?

[hotdogPi]

I posted, and then I deleted it after the person I quoted modified the quote, making my reply no longer valid.

[webny99]

Original Message: I wonder if deleted posts still show up in "recent posts" on the home page.

Edit: Apparently they don't, because the post I just deleted also disappeared from "recent posts". My apologies for the aside. 

[inkyatari]

Wow.  11:18 in Chicago while, just 90 miles north, 11:17 in Milwaukee.

Makes one wonder what the time would be in say...  Cicero..  Lemont. Joliet. Ottawa at the time.

And on top of that, Chicago is a big city.  What time would it be on the west side?

[hotdogPi]

Wow.  11:18 in Chicago while, just 90 miles north, 11:17 in Milwaukee.

Makes one wonder what the time would be in say...  Cicero..  Lemont. Joliet. Ottawa at the time.

And on top of that, Chicago is a big city.  What time would it be on the west side?

At a latitude of 42°N, it would be 1 minute difference per 12 miles.

Calculation: 1 minute (time) = 17.3 miles * cos(latitude)

[jon daly]

I posted, and then I deleted it after the person I quoted modified the quote, making my reply no longer valid.

Aha. I thought that might be the case. I'm not used to forums where 1 can remove their posts.

[MikeTheActuary]

Looking for information on pre-standard time time zones, I found this interesting anecdote on the adoption of standard time in England:

Osler was the caretaker of the clock at the Philosophical Institute in Birmingham [England]. Following the sun, Birmingham is about seven minutes earlier than London.

Osler made regular astronomical observations from the institute's roof and adjusted its clock; every Sunday morning the clock keepers of Birmingham's churches looked at the institute clock and adjusted their steeple clocks. Osler favored the new arrangement with Greenwich but wondered how to get Birmingham to accept it without riling half the population. He decided to make the seven-minute adjustment early one Sunday morning. The next day when people arrived at work, late according to clocks in businesses and factories, there was much cursing of timepieces and watch repair shops did a booming business. No one knew time had been manipulated. Osler kept his secret for many years.

(Source)

[inkyatari]

Wow.  11:18 in Chicago while, just 90 miles north, 11:17 in Milwaukee.

Makes one wonder what the time would be in say...  Cicero..  Lemont. Joliet. Ottawa at the time.

And on top of that, Chicago is a big city.  What time would it be on the west side?

At a latitude of 42°N, it would be 1 minute difference per 12 miles.

Calculation: 1 minute (time) = 17.3 miles * cos(latitude)

I failed math in high school.

[webny99]

I posted, and then I deleted it

I'm not used to forums where 1 can remove their posts.

Nice

[vdeane]

Looks like typos were a thing even back then.  "Frederickton, N. Y." is quite clearly in New Brunswick.

[jon daly]

I stand corrected about Middletown and now I'm unsure why it was considered a principal city. The line from Hartford to New Haven bypassed the town.

From Wikipedia:

The mid-19th century also saw manufacturing replace trade as Middletown's economic mainstay; however, industrial growth was limited by railroad operators' decision to bypass Middletown when tracks were laid between Hartford and New Haven. There had been an ambitious plan to build a railroad suspension bridge in the White Rock, Middletown to Bodkin Rock, Portland vicinity, which was seen as an unpractical solution.


https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Middletown,_Connecticut

It wasn't until 1873 that the Airline was completed.

http://www.abandonedrails.com/Air_Line

[Brandon]

Nova Scotia not part of Canada.

Canada, as the country we know today, did not exist until 1867.  Toronto and Kingston would've been part of Upper Canada (modern Ontario).  Montreal and Quebec were a part of Lower Canada (modern Quebec).  Nova Scotia, New Brunswick, PEI, Newfoundland, and British Columbia were all separate British colonies at the time.  Alberta, Saskatchewan, and Manitoba did not yet exist.  That was all part of the British Northwest Territories.

[kkt]

https://twitter.com/_tessr/status/900870734238449664/photo/1

Before time zones, there were time tables: at noon in Washington, DC, it was 12:02 in Baltimore for example. Railroads needed to know this.

But the most important cities were a different list back then: among the "top 100", 3 cities in Ohio (but no Cleveland) but 6 in Connecticut (including Middletown, pop. 5,000 at the time (46k today)). California: Sacramento only. Colorado: ... well, not yet a state.

I really don't get Sacramento getting an entry in the table, but not San Francisco.  S.F. was far more important, gold notwithstanding.

[US 81]

Texas was apparently a vast wilderness, except for Galveston. 

This timetable is fascinating. 

[abefroman329]

Texas was apparently a vast wilderness, except for Galveston. 

This timetable is fascinating. 

If you're interested in the era where Galveston was the most prominent city in Texas, I highly recommend reading Isaac's Storm by Erik Larson (author of The Devil in the White City).

[US 81]

Texas was apparently a vast wilderness, except for Galveston. 

This timetable is fascinating. 

If you're interested in the era where Galveston was the most prominent city in Texas, I highly recommend reading Isaac's Storm by Erik Larson (author of The Devil in the White City).

I have read it; I second your recommendation to anyone else interested.