This is the grave of Thomas Alexander Scott. Born in 1823 in Peters Township, Pennsylvania, Scott would become one of the most vile men of the early Gilded Age. He got involved in railroad work at a young age and by 1850 worked for the...
railroads
One major problem with American public transportation is the incredibly high cost of construction. Another is the spread out nature of American cities. How does one create functional public transportation.
This is the grave of Matthias Baldwin. Born in 1795 in Elizabethtown, New Jersey, Baldwin was wealthy as a small child. His father was a builder of fancy carriages for.
For the latest LGM podcast, I talked to Michael Hiltzik, the Pulitzer Prize winning columnist for the Los Angeles Times, about his latest book Iron Empires: Robber Barons, Railroads, and the Making of Modern America. In this conversation, we talk about the craziness of this...
This is the grave of Charles Francis Adams, Jr. Born in 1835 to Boston, Adams grew up in America's most elite family. Of course, his great-grandfather was John Adams, his.
Gizmodo has this series where they ask experts this or that. For this week's version, they asked a bunch of historians about which technology has led to the most accidental.
Today is the anniversary of the Transcontinental Railroad's completion in Utah. I have written in the past about the horrific labor history behind this. I was happy to wake up this morning to see my friend Alessandra Link telling this story from the Native perspective....
On February 20, 1893, the Philadelphia and Reading Railroad went into receivership. This was the first step toward the Panic of 1893, the greatest economic crisis in American history prior.
This is the grave of Collis Huntington. One of the most corrupt capitalists of the Gilded Age, Collis Huntington was born in 1821 in Harwinton, Connecticut. He traveled around a.
On March 28, 1959, railroad worker union leaders in Mexico that threatened to shut down the nation were arrested. The government crack down, its firing thousands of workers and arrest of many more demonstrates how the PRI government in Mexico would reject militancy in the...
This is the grave of James J. Hill. Born in 1838 in Ontario, Hill moved permanently to the United States in 1856, setting in Saint Paul, Minnesota, a few years.
On March 6, 1886, the Great Southwest Strike began, marking the start of a year of worker revolt against the exploitation of Gilded Age capitalism. Over 200,000 railroad workers went.