America's New Heartland

The Midwest (then simply known as the 'West') is the center of growth. Cincinnati, St Louis and New Orleans are the big ports on the Ohio and Mississippi rivers.

The new Great Lakes ports of Chicago and Detroit are also growing dramatically. Meanwhile, life on the edge of the frontier is just getting started.
Detroit, 1850

  Detroit, 1850
Detroit is the manufacturing and shipping center of Michigan, with water connections north, south and east.

Chicago, 1850

  Chicago
Chicago is booming, with a new canal connecting to the Mississippi River, and 100 trains arriving daily from new farming regions to the west.


Wisconsin and Ohio, 1850

  Wisconsin and Ohio
Oshkosh is the gateway to virgin timber in Wisconsin (left). On the Ohio River, the shipping hub of Cincinnati is now the country's sixth largest city (right, top and bottom).