Forging the Bee Line Railroad, 1848-1889 : The Rise and Fall of the Hoosier P...

by Arthur Andrew Olson III

$57 · Offered by eBay

Forging the Bee Line Railroad, 1 : The Rise and Fall of the Hoosier Partisans and Cleveland Clique, Hardcover by Olson, Arthur Andrew, III, ISBN 1606352822, ISBN-13 9781606352823, Like New Used, Free shipping in the US In the 1830s, as the Trans Appalachian economy began to stir and Europe's Industrial Revolution reached its peak, concerned Midwesterners saw opportunities and risks. Success of the Erie Canal as a link to East Coast economic markets whetted the appetites of visionaries and entrepreneurs, who saw huge opportunities. Amid this perfect storm of technology, enterprise, finance, location, and timing arose some of the earliest railroads in the Midwest. By the late 1840s three such vision-driven railroad ventures had sprung to life. Two small railroads carrying goods to Midwestern markets - the Indianapolis & Bellefontaine in Indiana and the Bellefontaine & Indiana in Ohio - spawned early enthusiasm, but few citizens would look beyond the horizon. It was the admonition of Oliver H. Smith, founder of the Indiana line, who challenged the populace to look farther: "to decide whether the immense travel and business of the west should pass round or go through central Indiana." Soon, the two local lines would crystallize in the minds of people as the "Bee Line." In Cleveland, meanwhile, a clique of committed businessmen, bankers, and politicians came together to finance the most prosperous of all early Midwestern railroads, extending from Cleveland to Columbus. Their aspir

• Publisher: Kent State University Press
• Year: 2016
• Binding: Hardcover
• ISBN: 9781606352823
• Condition: Fine

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