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100 years ago, Buffalo was one of the US's 10 biggest cities. It's still #2 in NY state, but it is but a shell of its former self, a quintessential Rust Belt city.
Going farther back in time, Galena and Cairo Illinois were both very important before the Civil War. Now they are tiny: one's a tourist town, the other is a near-ghost town.
Another would be Butte, MT, a thriving mining city when copper was gold.
New Orleans was once the dominant city in the South. Now it's way down the list in importance.
I'd say anything within Ohio. Cleveland, Columbus, Toledo, and other Ohio cities are shells of their former selves. Detroit would def be up on the list as well. The city is about half of its peak size, and sits nearly 50% abandoned.
Pittsburgh and Philadelphia hit some hard times, but Pittsburgh has been able to reinvent itself. I'm not too sure about Philadelphia.
True. Another reason that Atlanta pulled away from Birmingham economically: Birmingham industry was by and large an absentee ownership situation (In the case of its' steel industry, owners largely resided in Pittsburgh); Atlanta, on the other hand, had the majority of its' industry ownership actually residing in the city. As a result, Atlanta's business leadership was much more invested in the city's economic fortunes than was Birmingham's.
Thanks for posting this...it's amazing how much one can learn on city-data sometimes - if one can get past all of the bickering, that is.
I've also heard (more than once) the theory regarding Atlanta's progressive stance on civil rights in the 50s and 60s versus Birmingham's violent resistance to the movement, and how this resulted in Atlanta's booming population and economic growth. In 1950, Atlanta and Birmingham had basically the same population (331,000/326,000).
In Florida Pensacola and St. Augstine used to play a much more important role. In fact the vast majority of Floridians used to live in the northern portion, that's why Tallahassee (the state capital) was chosen, it was half way between Florida's two largest cities at the time, Pensacola and St. Augstine. A big part of the development of South Florida was when Henry Flagler built a railroad that extended down the east coast of Florida to Miami. This was a major reason why roles switched from North to South in Florida.
In the Deep South. Atlanta played important role (Still Does) in everything. I now see Miami as emerging. May not be all the way up with Atlanta in areas, but is very well so being looked at when the South is mentioned.
I think San Antonio used to be Texas' largest city, and currently is second largest, but metro-wise is the 3rd largest metro, with Austin poised to overtake it. So 2nd largest city is the 3rd best city in TX, though some may pick Austin as 3rd.
Also, Galveston has great history with a much more interesting rise and fall story.
During the 19th century, Galveston became a major U.S. commercial center and one of the largest ports in the United States. Its position on the natural harbor of Galveston Bay along the Gulf of Mexico made it the center of trade in Texas, and one of the largest cotton ports in the nation, in competition with New Orleans. It was quickly becoming the New York of the South. Throughout the 19th century, the port city of Galveston grew rapidly and the Strand was considered the region's primary business center. For a time, the Strand was known as the "Wall Street of the Southwest".
In 1900, the island was struck by a devastating hurricane. Even post-Hurricane Katrina, this event holds the record as the United States' deadliest natural disaster. Despite attempts to draw new investment to the city after the hurricane, Galveston never fully returned to its previous levels of national importance or prosperity. Development was also hindered by the construction of the Houston Ship Channel, which brought the Port of Houston into direct competition with the natural harbor of the Port of Galveston for sea traffic.
Today, it is a principal city in Greater Houston, but has suffered from population losses. Its not even the largest city in its own county. Yet, it is a city with much history, great architecture, and numerous tourist attractions.
Philadelphia used to be the 2nd largest city in the British Empire after London.
Philadelphia was also our nation's first capital.
New York and Pennsylvania were actually the two most populous states for most of our countries existence (until the 1960 Census when California moved PA to the #3 spot).
Philly had also been the third most populous city or higher for most of our countries existence (until 1950 when Los Angeles moved Philly to #4).
Cleveland was in the top 5 and top 10 for most populated cities in the US before WWII at nearly 900,000 people.
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