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What are some major cities today that 100 years ago were nothing special or insignificant, but have show impressive growth not just in population, but in economy, culture and recognition?
For me it's Miami and Seattle. Both cities 100 years ago were a joke. Today they are unique and impressive in their own ways.
Last edited by JMT; 05-23-2016 at 07:58 PM..
Reason: North American cities only.
By the 1920 census, Los Angeles was the 10th largest city in the US, largest city on the West Coast and growing quickly, so I'm not if it was necessarily insignificant. Seattle was the 20th largest city in the US and the third largest city on the West Coast and also a fairly booming port city(a lot of Seattle's neighborhoods date from this period). People always seem to think though that Seattle, Portland, and Denver are younger cities than they actually are, though they were fairly large regional centers in the early 1900s and in the top 20-30 cities in population in the US 100 years ago(and have a lot of development dating from this era).
In comparison, Dallas and Houston were much smaller than what they'd become(42nd and 45th in the US) and populations of 158,000 and 138,276--and San Antonio was actually the biggest city in Texas. But that's nothing compared with Miami and Phoenix which had populations of about 29,000 in 1920--but then you have Las Vegas which was a barely populated desert outpost of 2,300 people next to a train station. Las Vegas is also the biggest US city founded in the 20th Century I believe.
It's also interesting that 100 years ago, New Orleans was the only Southern city in the Top 30 US cities in terms of population(well, Louisville was 29th, so that's also Southern I suppose). Atlanta and Memphis were in the Top 40 in population, but for the most part there were no cities in the South with over 200,000 people except for New Orleans and Louisville.
Last edited by CanuckInPortland; 05-23-2016 at 03:12 PM..
By the 1920 census, Los Angeles was the 10th largest city in the US, largest city on the West Coast and growing quickly, so I'm not if it was necessarily insignificant. Seattle was the 20th largest city in the US and the third largest city on the West Coast and also a fairly booming port city(a lot of Seattle's neighborhoods date from this period). People always seem to think though that Seattle, Portland, and Denver are younger cities than they actually are, though they were fairly large regional centers in the early 1900s and in the top 20-30 cities in population in the US 100 years ago(and have a lot of development dating from this era).
In comparison, Dallas and Houston were much smaller than what they'd become(42nd and 45th in the US) and populations of 158,000 and 138,276--and San Antonio was actually the biggest city in Texas. But that's nothing compared with Miami and Phoenix which had populations of about 29,000 in 1920--but then you have Las Vegas which was a barely populated desert outpost of 2,300 people next to a train station. Las Vegas is also the biggest US city founded in the 20th Century I believe.
It's also interesting that 100 years ago, New Orleans was the only Southern city in the Top 30 US cities in terms of population(well, Louisville was 29th, so that's also Southern I suppose). Atlanta and Memphis were in the Top 40 in population, but for the most part there were no cities in the South with over 200,000 people except for New Orleans and Louisville.
In 1920, Birmingham (36) and Richmond (38) we're also in the Top 40. And though they may have started transitioning already, 100 years ago Baltimore (8) and Washington (14) were very much still largely considered Southern cities....
Greenville SC
Huntsville AL (most due to the NASA, Redston arsenal coming to town)
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