Society: 1830-1900Railroad Development around the American Bottom region

Besides the early development of the Illinois and St. Louis Railroad and Coal Company, most rail construction in Illinois began in the 1840s and 1850s.  Deciding where to build lines was the most important consideration and there were two leading philosophies.  One way of understanding the growth of railroads suggested that the end result should be a vast interconnected system tying all the major cities of the east coast with the newer cities in the midwest and eventually the west.  A more conservative position was to focus on local needs and concentrate railroad potential on developing cities within individual states.  Illinois initially favored the development of railroads within the state at the expense of out-of-state cities like St. Louis.  Toward this end Illinois officials hoped Alton would become a major railroad terminus.  At the same time Illinoistown leaders managed to secure lines that placed their town in a favorable position as a terminus.

During the 1850s the Atlantic and Mississippi Railroad and the Ohio and Mississippi Railroad placed lines in Illinoistown.  The Atlantic and Mississippi Railroad also had lines in Alton.  Some towns that these major lines bypassed, like Belleville, Illinois, secured branch lines to Illinoistown.  Alton managed to secure a line to Springfield, Illinois, and that line allowed a connection to Chicago using the Illinois Central Railroad and the Chicago and Rock Island Railroad.  However, geography, line placement, and a change in state policy ended Alton's bid to become a significant terminus.  Illinoistown would grow into East St. Louis, the nation's largest rail terminus by 1900.  The choice of East St. Louis had many considerations.  The city was just across the river from St. Louis, the railroads already located lines to the area, and the state of Illinois abandoned its plans to restrict rail lines leading to out-of-state interests.  Had Alton won this competition, its leaders believed it could rival St. Louis as the central metropolis along the midwestern part of the Mississippi.
This selection from a map shows the first of what would become many terminal rail lines in East St. Louis

During the nineteenth century such fierce competition reflected the growth of an economic and geographic hierarchy among midwestern cities including Chicago, St. Louis, Cincinnati, and Louisville, and second order cities serving as collection and service stations such Alton, Belleville, and Illinoistown/East St. Louis.  At the same time St. Louis secured Illinoistown as a service center, Chicago expanded at an even faster rate.  The completion of the Illinois and Michigan canal in 1848 and the Illinois Central Railroad, which ran from Chicago to Cairo, Illinois, allowed the Windy City to divert trade from a north-south flow to an east-west direction, hurting St. Louis' trade.  During the Civil War the American Bottom region lost more trade as the Union Army blockaded southern trade while Chicago's east-west trade continued.  So while Chicago became the dominant city among the larger cities, East St. Louis helped keep St. Louis a vital city on the Mississippi.

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