American Industry Tour

The American Industry Tour showcases the industrial heritage of the Northeastern United States. As many other historical trails in North America, the tour follows migration routes from east to west, with a chronology from colonial times to the present day. Starting in Boston in the 17th and 18th centuries, we visit the 19th century factory clusters around Albany and New York City, and carry on through industrial regions of Pennsylvania, Ohio and Michigan, which had their heyday during the 20th century, ending in Chicago.

The rather small area along this trail contains much of America's industrial heritage, with a majority of the country's industry-related National Historic Landmarks, National Historic Sites and National Historical Parks. Many of the rest are in Minnesota.

Understand

From 1776 to 1945, the United States transformed from an agrarian country of 2½ million inhabitants to the world's leading superpower, and the home of 140 million people. Most feats of innovation and engineering happened in the north-east. However, the Industrial Revolution began in the United Kingdom, which held eastern North America as a colony (see Early United States history). In the Market Revolution during the early 19th century, the textile business was an early adopter of industrial processes.

From the mid-19th century, steam-powered factories became more common, and railroads started replacing canals and roads as main transport routes. During the American Civil War, the industries of the Northeast were mobilized to produce arms, supplies and ships, contributing to the Union victory. The colonization of the Old West truly began during the War, as the Southern secession from Congress allowed investment in rail lines and other colonization policies. See Industrialization of the United States for a guide to the political, social and cultural history of the whole country from the 1860s to the 1940s.

The late 19th century was called the Gilded Age, with a rising capitalist class, and increased corruption, especially in large industrial cities. The turn of the century saw the rise of organized labor, not least in Chicago. The early 20th century was known as the Progressive Era, with labor reforms, antitrust laws, and women's suffrage.

World War I again increased demand for military supplies. The automobile had its breakthrough during the Roaring Twenties, and Detroit became known as the Motor City. The 1929 Wall Street Crash caused the Great Depression, which hit the north-east hard, though the New Deal during the 1930s provided some relief. As World War II in Europe began in 1939, the USA supplied the Allies with arms. The 1941 Pearl Harbor attack brought America into the Pacific War, and brought large-scale industrial mobilization. After the war ended in 1945, industry shifted to consumer products. Since the 1960s, Northeastern industries have been downsizing, moving south, west, and abroad, causing unemployment and urban decay, causing the region to be renamed the Rust Belt. Though the 2000s financial crisis hit industrial towns hard, some of them are revitalizing today. See also Post-war United States.

Get around

“

You can't work in a steel mill and think small. Giant converters hundreds of feet high. Every night, the sky looked enormous. It was a torrent of flames – of fire. The place that Pittsburgh used to be had such scale.

”

—Jack Gilbert

The journey is around 1,250 miles (2,000 km) in total. By car, the trip takes around a week (or two, as long if all venues are visited). However, as railroads were an integral part of industrialization, and most of the sights are in major cities, many legs of the tour can be done by rail.

Some itineraries that give a background to early American history are:

From Plymouth to Hampton Roads: a road trip along the Atlantic coast, which showcases colonial and antebellum history.
Touring Shaker country: The Shakers are a Christian sect, which played an important role in the early industrialization of America.
Black Belt: The plantation region which many African-Americans left for the North during the Great Migration.

Go

Map of American Industry Tour

Day 1: Boston area

Our chronology starts in the 17th century in Boston, Massachusetts, where some industries could be found already during the Colonial era.

Before the Age of Steam, industry took use of rivers for propulsion and transport. The humid climate of New England allowed many waterwheel-powered workshops. The textile mills used locally produced flax and wool, as well as cotton from the South. New England also has abundant wood, and enough iron ore was available for the first metalworking industries.

41.95384-70.665551 Plimoth Grist Mill Museum, 6 Spring Ln, Plymouth, Massachusetts (off Summer St., a short walk away from the waterfront). late Mar to end of Nov, open 7 days a week, 9AM - 5PM. Formerly known as the Jenny Grist Mill but now affiliated with Plimoth Plantation. An authentic working mill rebuilt on the site of the original 1636 mill. Tours and exhibits. Adult $11; Senior $9.90; Child $8; Free for members.
42.467778-71.0088892 Saugus Iron Works National Historic Site, 244 Central Street (Saugus, Massachusetts). The site of the first integrated ironworks in North America (1646-1668). It includes the reconstructed blast furnace, forge, rolling mill, and a restored 17th-century house. As one of the first known industrial facilities on the continent, this is a good place to start our voyage. (updated Mar 2024)
42.244167-70.973 USS Salem & the U.S. Naval Shipbuilding Museum, 739 Washington St (Quincy, Massachusetts). The USS Salem is a 716-foot -long US Navy Heavy Cruiser Gunship and is the world's only example of that class of ship. The Salem was among the most advanced war ships of her day and served until 1959. She is now permanently moored at the place of her birth, the former Fore River Shipyard in historic Quincy. The ship is also home to the US Naval Shipbuilding museum and has on display thousands of items relating to Naval history and shipbuilding.
42.25-714 The Quincy Quarries (Quincy (Massachusetts)). The Quincy Quarries have supplied granite to Boston and buildings around the world with the tell-tale 'fingers' and bluish color. Now, they are empty and great places to hike or take a walk during the day. Some areas are filled with color by generations of teenagers' graffiti, others are used for rockclimbing, and you can walk down the Granite Railway, one of the first railroads in the United States, incorporated in 1826, an ox-drawn train to transport granite to the harbor for transportation to Boston or further.
42.639444-71.3147225 Lowell National Historical Park, Massachusetts, 67 Kirk Street. Lowell had watermill-powered workshops already in the 18th century, and was an early planned industrial city. Contains the Lowell Power Canal System and Pawtucket Gatehouse. Open year round. 9AM-5PM (Summer to 5:30PM). Commemorates the history of the American Industrial Revolution in Lowell. Includes the Boott Cotton Mills Museum, textile mills, canals, worker houses, and 19th-century commercial buildings. See also the American Textile History Museum and the Seashore Trolley Museum.
42.375278-71.0644446 Boston Navy Yard, Boston/Charlestown, Massachusetts. We jump forward in time for a while, to see a more modern part of Boston's industrial heritage. From its foundation in 1801 until its decline past World War II and the final decommission in 1974, it built and maintained much of the US Navy.

42.37639-71.235567 Waltham, Massachusetts. A suburb of Boston, with the remnants of the Boston Manufacturing Company. A center for the American textile industry already in the early 18th century, and the birthplace of the Waltham System; an early version of the assembly line. In the 19th century, Waltham Watch Company made the city known as the Watch City. The car company Metz made the first American Motorcycles here.
- 42.3732-71.23371 Charles River Museum Of Industry, 154 Moody Street. Exhibits on textile mills, American Waltham Watch Company and a power plant.
- 42.377239-71.2355682 Waltham Museum, 25 Lexington Street, ☏ +1 781-893-9020. Saturdays 10AM-2PM. An extensive collection of memorabilia including watches, clocks, automobiles and other industrial products made in Waltham. Adults (18+) $10; Seniors & Children 5+: $5; Active Military & Children under 5 Free. (updated Mar 2024)

Day 2: Upper Massachusetts

42.264713-71.8045158 Worcester Historical Museum, 30 Elm St (Worcester). Small museum in a beautiful old building that presents the city's history. Worcester Historical Museum features a rotating art exhibit and a section dedicated to the various manufacturing industries that built the city. Also has a room dedicated to the "smiley face," which was invented in Worcester. (updated Mar 2024)
42.108333-72.0791679 Old Sturbridge Village, 1 Old Sturbridge Village Road (Sturbridge). Sturbridge's biggest draw, this living history museum promotes learning about the early 1800s through fun, hands-on activities. Great interpretive programs. Special and seasonal programs help people experience historical New England. There are reenactments of previous time period wars, as well as activities that were going on around the early 1800s. It is a great way to get the visitors involved as well as just allowing for a great show.
42.108056-72.58166710 Springfield Armory (Springfield). A firearms factory operating from 1777 until 1968.
42.1036-72.585311 The Quadrangle, 220 State St (Springfield). A remarkable cultural grouping that consists of 5 museums, several of which are considered "world-class", the Dr. Seuss National Memorial Sculpture Garden, and the palatial Springfield City Library. The Museum of Fine Arts features a vast collection of European Impressionist and Post-Impressionist paintings, including works by Monet, Degas, and Gauguin; and also, a large collection of American painters, including Springfielders Whistler and Harding. The Museum of Science features the United States' first-ever planetarium (built in 1937), a large dinosaur exhibit, and replicas of exotic ecosystems. The George Walter Vincent Smith Museum is known worldwide for having the largest collection of Chinese cloisonné outside of China. It also features sets of ancient, Asian armor. The Connecticut Valley History Museum tells the story of the fertile river valley that spawned the two great cities of Springfield and Hartford. The Quadrangle's newest addition is the Museum of Springfield History, which tells the story of "The City of Firsts": where the first American-English dictionary, first gasoline-powered automobile, first motorcycle, first modern fire engine, first commercial radio station, and first UHF television were invented (among other innovations). Visitors will leave astonished by how great the relatively small City of Springfield has contributed to modern culture.
42.583652-72.60415512 Museum of Our Industrial Heritage, 2 Mead Street (Greenfield).
42.3506-73.244213 Berkshire Scenic Railway Museum (East of Lenox). A heritage railway.
42.352843-73.28000814 Ventfort Hall Gilded Age Mansion (Lenox). A historic Jacobean-style mansion and museum, listed on the National Register of Historic Places. Visitors can tour the mansion and learn about the changes that occurred in American life, industry, and society during the late 19th-century period known as the Gilded Age.

Day 3: Upstate New York

The Mid-Atlantic had thriving industrial cities even before the Civil War. Their productivity helped bring the Union to victory. Many immigrants from Ireland, Italy, Greece and Eastern Europe settled here. Since the 1960s manufacturing crisis, many industrial buildings have been redeveloped for other purposes, such as hospitality, entertainment and residential areas.

Connecting itinerary: The Erie Canal was New York State's main transport route before the railroads, connecting upstate industrial cities such as Syracuse and Buffalo to the Atlantic.

42.781111-73.70416715 Harmony Mills, Cohoes. The largest cotton mill complex in the world when it opened in 1872.
42.731667-73.692516 Troy. Troy flourished throughout the 19th and early 20th centuries and though deindustrialized like most of the rest of the North, has what's probably the best-preserved collection of grand 19th-century big-city buildings in the country.
- 42.710014-73.69896117 Burden Iron Works Museum, 1 East Industrial Pkwy (Troy). Schedule a tour for a crash course in area history.
42.7184-73.70418 Watervliet Arsenal Museum, 1 Buffington St, Watervliet. For military history buffs.
42.6525-73.7561119 Albany. A center for the wood, paper and print industry, with many of the nation's first high-rise buildings. Owes its importance at least in part to the Erie Canal.
42.81183-73.93369620 Schenectady Museum, 15 Nott Terrace Hts, 12308. The Schenectady Museum & Suits-Bueche Planetarium celebrate science, invention, and imagination. The museum explores the area’s rich technological heritage, with some of the region’s finest interactive exhibits. The museum also has an extensive General Electric collection.
41.925-7421 Kingston (New York). An industrial town with the Catskill Mountain Railroad.
- 41.920504-73.98006222 Trolley Museum of New York, 89 East Strand (Rondout waterfront) (Kingston). Memorial Day Weekend–Columbus Day, Sa, Su & holidays, noon–5PM. Trolley rides Sa & Su, May-October, from the museum to Kingston Point Park.
- 41.918767-73.981223 Hudson River Maritime Museum, 50 Rondout Landing (Kingston). Exhibits on the maritime history of the Hudson River and the regional industries—such as agriculture, brick, and, before the advent of refrigeration, ice—that depended on the river for transportation. Also has collections of paintings and boats.
41.705278-73.93055624 Poughkeepsie. An 18th-century town with some early industrial heritage.

- 41.673278-73.93161525 Locust Grove, 2683 South Rd (Poughkeepsie). The former estate of Samuel F.B. Morse, whose patent of the electromagnetic telegraph revolutionized human communication. Set on 150 acres, the Italianate villa was designed by architect Alexander Jackson Davis.

Day 4: Metropolitan New York

Since the 1830s, New York City has been the largest metropolitan region of the United States. As NYC is today a center for finance, entertainment and administration, one might forget that manufacturing was the city's most important business sector until the early 20th century. With astronomical land prices, most factories have been torn down to make room for housing and office buildings, but quite a few others have been converted to loft apartment buildings, and thus maintained in a number of now-luxury neighborhoods, including SoHo.

40.91667-74.1719426 Silk City, Paterson, New Jersey. "The Silk City" was the nation's first planned industrial city.
40.915833-74.18027827 Paterson Great Falls National Historical Park (Paterson). Contains a beautiful waterfall that was the center of much industrial development in the area, including canals and watermills.
40.740278-74.00694428 Meatpacking District, Manhattan/Chelsea, New York City. From the mid-19th to the mid-20th century, this district supplied New York City with meat. Today, most buildings and infrastructure remains, reconditioned for other purposes.
40.74257-74.0060329 Chelsea Market, 75 9th Ave (between 15th and 16th Streets; Subway: A C E L to 14th St/8th Av). The original Oreo cookie factory is now a block-sized market selling gourmet foods, flowers, and knick-knacks, and offering restaurants, bars, art space and special shows. Has free wireless Internet access throughout and smells like a slice of heaven.
40.7483-74.00530 High Line Park, Runs mostly along 10th Avenue from 34th Street south to Gansevoort Street in the Meatpacking District, with access points at Gansevoort, 14th, 16th, 18th, 20th, 23rd, 26th, 28th, 30th, and 34th Streets, info@thehighline.org. Built on a defunct elevated railroad that runs 30 feet (9 m) above the streets, the repurposing of the rail line as a park has made it the focus of major development in the neighborhood. There are plenty of plantings and art installations along the park as it winds its way between (and through!) buildings, and walking the stretch offers some pretty unique views over the streets of Manhattan. Free.
40.730051-73.99536131 Brown Building (Greenwich Village, New York City). The former Asch Building, known today as the Brown Building, was the site of the Triangle Shirtwaist Factory fire, one of the deadliest industrial disasters in the history of the United States, whose aftermath would eventually lead to a massive overhaul of fire safety legislation throughout the country. Today the building houses the biology and chemistry departments of New York University (NYU) and cannot be entered by the general public, though a plaque commemorating the disaster has been installed on the outside of the building, and is the site of a memorial service held every year in memory of the fire victims.
40.703056-73.98944432 DUMBO, Brooklyn/Downtown, New York City. Industrial buildings redeveloped for more urban purposes.
40.7185-73.99013933 Lower East Side Tenement Museum National Historic Site (Lower East Side, New York City). Preserves a brick tenement building with historical exhibits on the American immigrant experience in New York.
40.751944-74.162534 Clark Thread Company Historic District, Newark, New Jersey. Thread factory opened in 1875.
40.783611-74.23361135 Thomas Edison National Historical Park (West Orange). Thomas Edison's home and laboratory, where the motion picture camera, improved sound recordings, and the nickel-iron alkaline electric battery were invented.
40.814167-74.48055636 Speedwell Ironworks, Speedwell Village, Morristown, New Jersey. The first demonstration of the Morse telegraph took place here.
40.69361-75.1902837 Phillipsburg, New Jersey. A former transportation hub, with five train lines and 3 canals coming together.

39.290556-76.60555638 Phoenix Shot Tower, Baltimore, Maryland. When built in 1828, it was the tallest building in the United States.

Day 5: Eastern Pennsylvania

39.891111-75.17861139 Philadelphia Navy Yard (Philadelphia). An industrial zone under redevelopment.
40.626111-75.37555640 Bethlehem. The city was industrialized already before the Civil War; it is best known for the Bethlehem Steel Company, once the country's second-largest steel manufacturer, which was dismantled during the 2000s. The main industrial area has been transformed to a casino resort.
40.612557-75.37151541 National Museum of Industrial History, 602 E. Second St (Bethlehem). A Smithsonian affiliate dedicated to preserving America's rich industrial heritage. Exhibits on steel-making and manufacturing.
40.601667-75.47722242 America On Wheels Museum, 5 N. Front Street (Allentown, Pennsylvania). Museum showing the history of wheeled transportation.
40.676111-75.49543 Coplay Cement Company Kilns (Lehigh County).
40.198611-75.77555644 Hopewell Furnace National Historic Site. A blast furnace founded in 1771, which was used up to the Civil War.
39.982223-76.16060745 Railroad Museum of Pennsylvania.
40.828652-75.89697346 The Number 9 Mine and Museum, 9 Dock St (Lansford, near Jim Thorpe). Travel into a real coal mine and learn about the area's coal mining past.

Day 6: Central Pennsylvania

41.407792-75.67182947 Steamtown National Historic Site, Cliff Street west of Lackawanna Avenue (Scranton). The Steamtown National Historic Site offers tours of a train yard, locomotives, etc. GPS will take you to 150 S Washington Avenue, but there is no public access at that address.

41.409627-75.67340148 Electric City Trolley Museum, 300 Cliff St (Scranton). Cliff Street. On the site of the Steamtown National Historic Site. Offers trolley rides 9AM-5PM W-Su through October and on selected weekends afterwards. Check site for specifics. The Electric City Trolley Museum Association is a volunteer non-profit group that supports the activities of the Electric City Trolley Museum in downtown Scranton. The Electric City Trolley museum is closely affiliated with the Steamtown National Historic Site. (updated Sep 2016)
41.404014-75.66248249 Scranton Iron Furnaces, 159 Cedar Ave (Scranton). Visitors' center open seasonally. Blast furnaces built between 1848 and 1857. The Scranton Iron Furnaces is located near the Steamtown National Historic Site. The Iron Furnaces represent the early iron industry in the United States. There are four massive stone blast furnaces that still remain at the historic site and are the sole remnants of a once extensive plant operated by the Lackawanna Iron & Steel Company. (updated Sep 2016)
40.484615-76.26503850 Golden Age Air Museum (Northwest of Reading (Pennsylvania)). A broad collection of aircraft. Biplane rides are offered.
40.270525-76.41206351 Cornwall Iron Furnace.
40.288163-76.66116852 Hershey's Chocolate World (251 Park Blvd, Hershey). Great for children. A free tour experience shows the workings of how cocoa beans become Hershey's chocolate. The tour ends with a free sample. Other attractions available at Hershey's chocolate world include a "factory works" experience, a Trolley tour of the town, a food court, a 3D show, and shops with souvenirs and plenty of Hershey's products. price varies.
40.153-76.72553 Three Mile Island Nuclear Generating Station (TMI), 3 Mile Is, Middletown (travel down the PA-441 S and look right). Reservation Only. The worst commercial nuclear accident in the United States happened here on March 28, 1979, when Reactor #2 suffered a partial meltdown. Look for the historical marker and take some memorable photos before the remaining reactor shuts down in 2019. See nuclear tourism for context.
40.25984-76.8822154 Harrisburg. A cluster for iron and steel production during the late 19th century, with several museums and tours. Infamous in later times for the 1979 Three Mile Island nuclear incident.
40.265834-76.88546355 The State Museum of Pennsylvania, 300 North St (Harrisburg). A museum with a variety of exhibitions about Pennsylvania's history. (updated May 2015)
39.983729-76.72101556 Harley Davidson Factory Tour (York (Pennsylvania)). The legendary American motorcycles are assembled here.
39.973635-76.73295657 Wolfgang Candy Company Factory Tour, 50 E. 4th Ave (York (Pennsylvania)). Take the Wolfgang Factory Tour! Free samples of chocolate on the tour and discounted chocolate for sale at the end. Free.
40.2408-77.898558 Rockhill Trolley Museum (Rockhill Furnace, Alleghenies and Susquehanna Valley). A streetcar museum.

Day 7: Western Pennsylvania

Connecting itinerary: The Buffalo-Pittsburgh Highway is a north-south road between upstate New York and West Virginia.

39.642778-77.7259 Hagerstown Roundhouse Museum (in Maryland). A railroad museum.
40.454167-78.54027860 Allegheny Portage Railroad (near Altoona). A railroad, operating 1834 to 1854, which became an early gateway between the Atlantic and the Midwest. Contains the Staple Bend Tunnel; the first American railroad tunnel.
40.413081-79.89007861 Carrie Furnace, Rankin (8 miles (13 km) south of Pittsburgh). Operated from 1884 until 1982.
40.43831-79.9974662 Pittsburgh. The "Steel City" was once at the core of American industry, and the seat for United States Steel, at its time the world's largest corporation. Though many steel mills have closed down during the 20th century, Pittsburgh has revitalized its industrial heritage.
40.4466-79.992263 Senator John Heinz History Center, 1212 Smallman St (Pittsburgh). 10AM-5PM daily. An affiliate of the Smithsonian Institution and the largest history museum in Pennsylvania. Featuring 6 floors of permanent and changing exhibitions, this museum gives a very detailed look at the past 250 years in Western Pennsylvania, with displays on Pittsburgh-area innovations, people, and industries. Notable exhibits include artifacts from the French & Indian War, a hall dedicated to the Heinz company, a room full of old vehicles, and the Western Pennsylvania Sports Museum - a two story exhibit dedicated to a wide variety of Pittsburgh-area sport legends. $15 adults, $13 seniors, $6 children/students/military, children 5 and under free. (updated May 2015)
41.629167-79.67444464 Titusville. The birthplace of American oil industry, with the Drake Well Museum.

Day 8: Ohio

The rich natural resources, such as grain, iron, coal, wood and hydroelectric power, together with the Great Lakes, the Erie Canal, and the Mississippi river system, allowed the Midwestern cities to boom during the Industrial Revolution. Since World War II, manufacturing has declined, and the region is today known as the "Rust Belt", with high unemployment and urban decay.

41.096389-80.64916765 Youngstown (Ohio). The Youngstown Historical Center of Industry and Labor can be found here.
41.080274-81.52020366 American Toy Marble Museum, Akron. This museum preserves and disseminates the history of the American toy industry in the city where it all started: Akron, Ohio.
41.50446-81.6905667 Cleveland, Ohio. The birthplace of Standard Oil, the Rockefeller dynasty, and the early motor industry. The country's fifth largest city during the 1920s. As most other cities in the once industrial heartland it has fallen to a "rust belt" image, but a revitalization is underway and the somewhat negative reputation of the city is almost entirely undeserved.
41.270321-82.84068368 Mad River Railroad Museum (Bellevue (Ohio)). A railroad museum.

Day 9: Michigan

Connecting itinerary: The Motorcities Tour is a showcase of the automotive industry in and around Detroit.

42.33317-83.0478869 Detroit. The "motor city", the name "Detroit" was long a metonym for the US automobile industry. As the industry downsized since the late 20th century and population moved to the suburbs, much of the city lies deserted. The already-struggling city was hit hard by the housing crash of 2007/2008; though there are signs of recovery and "new urbanism", a long way remains to go.

42.3025-83.23769470 Automotive Hall of Fame, 21400 Oakwood Blvd. (Dearborn).
42.303583-83.23407871 The Henry Ford, 20900 Oakwood Blvd. (Dearborn), toll-free: +1-800-835-5237. This is a "must see". A massive historical and entertainment complex, a leading attraction with a keen focus on innovations. Consists of four separate attractions—the Henry Ford Museum, Greenfield Village, a tour of the Ford Rouge Factory, and an IMAX theater. Highlights include: Lincoln's chair, Rosa Parks' bus, JFK's limos, Thomas Edison's last breath hermetically sealed in a test tube, original historic structures, nice shops, great food, and, not surprisingly, a spectacular history of the automobile collection that is a football field long. Visitors may have many entertaining experiences such as mini-shows, music, parades, train rides, and Model T rides. Visitors should plan at least one full day for the village, and another full day for the museum.
42.403611-83.10166772 Highland Park Ford Plant. The second production site for the Ford Model T.

42.650599-83.22405973 Walter P. Chrysler Museum, 1 Chrysler Dr (Auburn Hills). Sixty-five historic vehicles on three floors; history of Chrysler, AMC and their predecessors. On Chrysler corporate campus, available for groups and meeting rentals but not otherwise open to the public. On rare occasions, a group may rent the facility for an event (such as the annual CEMA car show in June) to which the public is invited; this might be the only window for public museum visits.
43.023372-83.67861274 Alfred P. Sloan Museum, Flint, 1221 E. Kearsley St, sloan@sloanlongway.org. M-F 10AM-5PM, Sa Su noon-5PM. Sloan Museum and the Buick Gallery & Research Center are devoted to the documentation and interpretation of local history. The Buick Gallery and Research Center one block away at 303 Walnut Street features several dozen classic GM cars, including several concept designs. $6 adults, $5 seniors, $4 children (3-11), $3 student school programs, free for children (2 and under), teachers.

42.73135-84.5480775 R.E. Olds Transportation Museum, Lansing (Michigan). A museum dedicated to the founder of Oldsmobile, which was later bought by GM and was for years a popular US auto brand. Many traces of R.E. Olds still remain in Lansing. The tallest building in the city, the Boji Tower (noted for its large red clock), was built as the Olds Tower, after its major financier, R.E. Olds. The area near the location of an old Olds factory is now called REO Town, after R.E. Olds. The Lansing Lugnuts, a minor league baseball team plays in a stadium formerly known as Oldsmobile park near downtown Lansing.
41.935235-85.00320576 Little River Railroad, Coldwater. A heritage railway.

Day 10: Chicago

While much of Chicago was destroyed in the Great Fire of 1871, it rose to become America's second city during the Industrial Revolution, and the capital of the meatpacking industry, a haven for organized crime during the Prohibition, and a hotspot for blues and jazz. An important city in the history of organized labor, with the Pullman District, and the Haymarket Square Massacre, the date of which is remembered in most of the world (though not the US or Canada) as a worker's holiday on May 1st.

41.580833-87.34555677 Gary, Indiana. Gary used to be famous for steel, and had nearly 180,000 inhabitants in 1960. Today barely 70,000 people live in Gary, and many buildings are abandoned. While fewer and fewer institutions are operational in Gary, the city has become a destination for urban exploration.
41.683-87.5778 Historic Pullman District (Chicago (Far Southeast Side)).
41.790573-87.58306679 Museum of Science and Industry (Chicago (Hyde Park)), 5700 S Lake Shore Dr & E 57th St (Take CTA buses 2, 6, 10, 28, 55, or the Metra Electric Line). Spend hours upon hours looking at really cool stuff you never even knew you didn't know about. So much to do, so little time. You can return for free the following day if you take your ticket to "Will Call" on the way out on your first day. Great for kids, with many hands-on exhibits and the famous Coal Mine; adults will enjoy the display of the German U-boat 'U-505'. The immense, beautiful building was itself built as part of the White City in 1893, and is the last of the grand buildings left in Hyde Park.
41.912038-87.6336880 Chicago History Museum (Chicago Historical Society), 1601 N Clark St (Clark/Division Red Line, Sedgwick Brown Line). A creative urban history museum. Exhibits include The Pioneer, the first railroad locomotive to operate in Chicago, and the bed upon which Abraham Lincoln died; more fun for kids is the Chicago-style Hot Dog showcase, which supplies all the giant plastic ingredients you'll need to turn yourself (or your little brother) into a life-sized hot dog (no ketchup, of course). They also host regular tours of different CTA lines and walking tours of Lincoln Park and Old Town.

Go next

In Chicago, our chronology reaches the 1950s, as the city was at its peak. Since the 1960s, the industries of the Northeast started downsizing, due to automation and outsourcing. Crime-driven emigration to the suburbs made the city centers decline, though in the 21st century, many city centres are experiencing a renaissance due to gentrification.

America's center of gravity for population and industry moved on to the southwest, with especially California as the new land of opportunity, together with the Pacific Northwest, the Southwest and Texas. Minneapolis/St. Paul, St Louis, Kansas City, Milwaukee and Denver are some other important industrial cities in middle America. Historically, the iron ore for all that steel came primarily from Northeastern Minnesota, and a considerable amount of ore is still shipped out of Duluth and adjacent Superior. The whole region has numerous active mines and exhibits of its industrial past. Before the advent of the Interstate Highway System there were just a few highways and railroads across the Rocky Mountains, and only the elite could afford air travel. Some of the classical routes are still available today:

Empire Builder has run from Chicago to Seattle since 1929.
California Zephyr, a streamliner train service opened in 1949 across scenic terrain, to the San Francisco Bay Area.
Lincoln Highway (1913-1930), the first transcontinental highway, reaches San Francisco. These named auto trails predated the 1926 US Highway System.
Route 66 (1926-1985) was the legendary highway that connected Chicago to Los Angeles. It was replaced, piece-by-piece, by the Interstate system (established in 1956) with the last segment bypassed near Williams (Arizona) in 1984.