Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1906-09-01
ESTABLISHING TOWNS
How This is Accomplished in the
Western Country. !
PROCESS OF EVOLUTION
Work Of the Railroads and the Town
Site Man.
CHOOSING THE LOCATIONS
Lumber Yards, Elevators and Banks
Often Precede the Coming Of the
Steel Gang-selling Lots.
CHOOSING THE LOCATIONS


In darkest Africa, the far east and few
other parts Of the 1nhabitable globe the
march Of progress has been noted by q
double advent, described with due respect
to the religionist and the commercialist as
FIRST the missionary and then the whis-
KY" In the rich region which was once the
northwest the upper valley OF the Mis-
souri, river) civilization, as 1t has advanced
by the traditional leaps and bounds. has
had its trail blazed by two agencies-the
railroad and the town site man.
Sometimes the railroad, In the abstract
form OF a preliminary survey. precedes the
town site man; in other cases the surveying
party may march into camp at night to
find the town site man awaiting it. In
either event the railroad and town site man
work to the common end Of paving the way
for that permanent settlement which makes
territories out Of the wilderness and states
out Of the territories. The country is the
cause Of the railroad and the railroad is
the cause of the town site man. Out of
their Joint endeavor come the smiling viii
lagos" which dot the map of every new re-
gion of commercial activity.
The town site man Is one Of the types in
cldental to sthe march of empire in the
United States. and while individuals resem-
bling him may be found in other countries
sippi and the Pacific coast, that he -four
ishes and Is most successful. In the early
days of transcontinental lines he appeared
as a Spectator pure and simple. The specu-
latfve town site man was a prominent
figure in the development of California. It
was his business to go ahead of the line.
lay out his towns. sell his lots at auction,
take what he could get for those not salable
at fancy figures, pocket his handsome
profits and depart for greener fields and
pastures new, leaving the new town to get
along as fate and fortune might dictate.
The modern town or village Is not built
in that way. and 1t is because the "crea-
tive" town site man has replaced the ''spec-
ulative" that new sections are made to BIOS
som as the rose and suffer no blight from
the creation of hasty and ill-advtsed centers
has been reduced to prosaic facts and fig
ures in the past decade, and the "hell-to-
breakfast" cowboy has found himself
crowded out by the sober. plodding farmer
the farmer brings his produce. From this
change in conditions arises the story Of the
modern town.
Locating the Stations.
When a railroad decides upon entering a
new territory there naturally arises the
question. where shall we place the sta
tions?' Although it is the general belief
that railroad builds between different CEN
tiers of settlement, this is very rarely the
case, especially In this western country. In
fact many little villages have already
learned to their sorrow that the railroad Is
bigger than the people as represented by
various village councils and that in pene-
trating new regions 1t goes whittier 1t Wills,
regardless Of the pioneers in civic organiza-
ton. 1t Is generally the case that while
an inland town may be located entirely to
It's own satisfaction. such location does not
accord either with the general plans Of the
railroad magnates or the judgment Of the
men In charge of the survey, and the In
land village Is passed by on the other side.
Nearly all Of the big railroad systems in
the west have a regularly organized and
operated town site department" which is
brought into the case and consulted as to
the location of stations as soon as the gen.
mined upon. The railroads town site man
travels over the proposed right of way.
making a careful study of the topography
Of the land and of its natural resources. 1t
Is he who decides where future cities can
live and have their being.
AS general proposition now towns are
located about ten miles apart especially
along lines which penetrate such territory
as that found in North Dakota, now the
most fruitful field for the town site man.
After the matter Of distance Is settled
there remain to be considered the questions
Of grade, for 1t costs money to stop and
should be built on straight stretch OF
level track where there will be no stall
ing"
The location Of new town Is the de-
cision Of expert intelligence. and so much a
matter of keen interest to prospective citi-
zens of the same that in many cases the
town site man finds1n the neighborhood OF
the city whose foundations he is about to
lay, a full-grown village. with banks, stores,
saloons and other appurtenances to COM
pick civilization-all ready to take wheels
and "fy' to the immediate vicinity of the
depot when they learn where that Is to
be.
Laying Out the Town Site.
1t is usually only a few days between the
departure of the railroad surveying party
and the arrival Of the town site surveying
crew. Having found where the switches are
to be, the sites for the station, the grain
elevator. and the lumber yard are To-
cated-for grain Is the big product Of the
new northwest and lumber is the first es-
sential in building town. and 1t Is desfr-
able that everything be ready for business
before the railroad arrives.
The preliminaries out Of the way, the
town site surveying party proceeds to lay
out the embryo city along certain fixed
lines. In the modern, model town ate plat
there Is plaza, rarely larger than an ordi-
nary block, about which the business houses
are to be built. Sometimes there are two
of these open spaces. The first is usually
within a quarter of mile of the railroad
station. while the second is another quarter
of mile away. Nearly all of the new
towns in the northern country are laid out
north of the railroad track, to the end that
they may constitute snowsheds and protec-
ton to the railroad from the winter storms.
After having made plat of the town and
properly staked 1t out, date is fixed for
the sale of town lots according to a sched-
ule of prices announced in the city dailies
and in a score or more of country papers
in the territory more or less tributary to
the location.
A new town is great self-advertising In
stitution, however. Weeks before the date
of sale, the little village of squatters which
may have established itself miles from the
site that is ultimately to be chosen-owing
to a bad guess on the part Of the CONNER
cial ploneers-has gotten iwnd Of what Is
going forward. The business houses have
been hastily placed on wheels or skids,
forty-horse teams or big threshing- machine
engines have been fastened to them and the
procession across the prairie has begun. At
such times the newcomer must not be SUE
prised to see completely equipped bank
going along the great kings highway OF
unbounded. rolling prairie In tow OF q
"thrcsher," Its employees transacting bust-
ness as they go. Nor must the visitor re-
gard it as strange II he arrives at q pos
sibIe rival of Minneapolis or Winnipeg. to
see dotting the site Of the latest town
stakes bearing such legends as: "John
Smith will open q general store on this lot -