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There are a lot of good examples around the country, and many places where one decision made all the difference. Several cities in the Puget Sound fit that description, as the late 1800's saw cities in the region vie for becoming the western terminus of several transcontinental railroads, hopeful to connect land and seaports to become the powerhouse in the region. Places like Seattle, Tacoma, Bellingham, and Port Townsend all held potential. Tacoma and obviously Seattle became the dominant cities in the area, but Port Townsend and Bellingham took different trajectories.
Port Townsend, once touted as a place with potential to become the biggest port city in the northwest, is now a touristy place, known for a historic downtown with much larger structures than most towns its size. The dreams of connecting to the Northern Pacific Railroad never materialized, but it's a great place to visit these days.
Bellingham may have an even more interesting story. With a scenic, protected bay and close to many natural resources, many investors wanted to see the town become a big port and railroad hub, and envisioned a connection to Spokane and the rest of the country to the east. But the area around Bellingham was rough, with low mountains separating the town from Seattle and points south, and nearly impenetrable mountains to the east, which now are part of North Cascades National Park. The other option was through British Columbia. It appeared that Bellingham, fifty miles south of Vancouver and a mere twenty miles south of the Canadian Border, was on track (okay, bad pun) to become the western terminus of the Canadian Pacific Railway.
But it was never to be. An American railway company connected the small stretch to the CPR mainline, and on June 22, 1891, likely the most important waterfight in US history broke out. As the first passenger train came down from Canada, 6,000 onlookers waited in anticipation. Fire companies from the US on one side of the tracks and Canada on the other customarily welcomed the train with an arc of water from the hoses. Pressurization, new to fire departments, was set too high and the water blew out windows, drenched passengers and dignitaries, and let to a nasty brawl that intensified as firemen and people in the crowd fought over which country's flag was higher on an arch over the train at the celebration. It's debatable how much future impact the event had, but there's no doubt that it angered the top brass at the CP Railroad, and plans were soon scratched for the big expansion to Bellingham. Several subsequent economic crashes and the impossibility of building another line through the Cascades sunk the town's visions of big-city grandeur and the main connection to Asian markets. It continued to grow, but not nearly as fast as the nearby cities of Vancouver and Seattle. The "Great Waterfight" as it was known locally, forever changed this town's history...
I think Corpus Christi, TX has the potential to be a bigger city if they can manage to attract more industry in the future
City vs City proper, Corpus Christi is very similar to Norfolk, VA. If Latin America were the military power that Europe is/was, Corpus Christi’s metro would be well over 1 mil.
Riverside, California shoud've been bigger than San Diego and Orange County. The amount of desirable land is perfect for economic growth. It's proximity to LA is the key.
But it's got weather that is too hot, lots of smog, and isn't near water. Because of those reasons, San Diego and Coastal OC are far more desirable for many reasons, and therefore larger.
One I just thought of is Halifax, Nova Scotia. During the 18th century, Halifax and Boston were two close trading partners and their respective colony's premier city. The layout of Halifax actually reminds me of Boston on a much smaller scale, which makes me wonder what held it back from developing as a major city in Atlantic Canada. In those early days, Halifax would've been the closest colonial city to the old world, it is rich in natural resources and logic suggests it should've enjoyed a boom based on geography alone. It still remains an important international port city with a rich history, but with only ~400k residents, Halifax is a small city even by Canadian standards.
There are a lot of good examples around the country, and many places where one decision made all the difference. Several cities in the Puget Sound fit that description, as the late 1800's saw cities in the region vie for becoming the western terminus of several transcontinental railroads, hopeful to connect land and seaports to become the powerhouse in the region. Places like Seattle, Tacoma, Bellingham, and Port Townsend all held potential. Tacoma and obviously Seattle became the dominant cities in the area, but Port Townsend and Bellingham took different trajectories.
Port Townsend, once touted as a place with potential to become the biggest port city in the northwest, is now a touristy place, known for a historic downtown with much larger structures than most towns its size. The dreams of connecting to the Northern Pacific Railroad never materialized, but it's a great place to visit these days.
Bellingham may have an even more interesting story. With a scenic, protected bay and close to many natural resources, many investors wanted to see the town become a big port and railroad hub, and envisioned a connection to Spokane and the rest of the country to the east. But the area around Bellingham was rough, with low mountains separating the town from Seattle and points south, and nearly impenetrable mountains to the east, which now are part of North Cascades National Park. The other option was through British Columbia. It appeared that Bellingham, fifty miles south of Vancouver and a mere twenty miles south of the Canadian Border, was on track (okay, bad pun) to become the western terminus of the Canadian Pacific Railway.
But it was never to be. An American railway company connected the small stretch to the CPR mainline, and on June 22, 1891, likely the most important waterfight in US history broke out. As the first passenger train came down from Canada, 6,000 onlookers waited in anticipation. Fire companies from the US on one side of the tracks and Canada on the other customarily welcomed the train with an arc of water from the hoses. Pressurization, new to fire departments, was set too high and the water blew out windows, drenched passengers and dignitaries, and let to a nasty brawl that intensified as firemen and people in the crowd fought over which country's flag was higher on an arch over the train at the celebration. It's debatable how much future impact the event had, but there's no doubt that it angered the top brass at the CP Railroad, and plans were soon scratched for the big expansion to Bellingham. Several subsequent economic crashes and the impossibility of building another line through the Cascades sunk the town's visions of big-city grandeur and the main connection to Asian markets. It continued to grow, but not nearly as fast as the nearby cities of Vancouver and Seattle. The "Great Waterfight" as it was known locally, forever changed this town's history...
Good post. In fact, the Pacific Northwest did not have a clear city leader perhaps until around 1962.
Yes Port Townsend and Bellingham were out of the running much earlier, and Tacoma lost the railroad terminus many decades before.
However, at the end of the 1950's, both Seattle and Portland were still fighting for supremacy, though Seattle certainly had the heads up even at this point. Everything changed when Seattle scored the World's Fair, (back when that meant something), and with Boeing entering the jet age combined with the large military presence around Seattle/Tacoma. At the same time, Portland was slowly evolving their outlook from trying to be a big city to being a big town that was more livable. While Seattle suffered a big depression in the early 70's, it bounced back bigtime and in the 70's became an "it" city that continues to this day.
But to the thread subject...Yes Port Townsend, Bellingham, Tacoma, and Portland all were suppose to be big cities. Seattle is the clear winner as of late 2017. I don't see this changing anytime soon.
Good post. In fact, the Pacific Northwest did not have a clear city leader perhaps until around 1962.
Yes Port Townsend and Bellingham were out of the running much earlier, and Tacoma lost the railroad terminus many decades before.
However, at the end of the 1950's, both Seattle and Portland were still fighting for supremacy, though Seattle certainly had the heads up even at this point. Everything changed when Seattle scored the World's Fair, (back when that meant something), and with Boeing entering the jet age combined with the large military presence around Seattle/Tacoma. At the same time, Portland was slowly evolving their outlook from trying to be a big city to being a big town that was more livable. While Seattle suffered a big depression in the early 70's, it bounced back bigtime and in the 70's became an "it" city that continues to this day.
But to the thread subject...Yes Port Townsend, Bellingham, Tacoma, and Portland all were suppose to be big cities. Seattle is the clear winner as of late 2017. I don't see this changing anytime soon.
From Demographic trends it seems that Seattle, Tacoma, Portland, Vancouver BC, and Spokane were the only ones with any chance. Portland: 639,863
1890: 46,385
1900: 90,426
1910: 207,214
If Philadelphia had remained the nation's capital, then it would have grown even larger than it is now. Maybe not as large as NYC or LA, but certainly rivaling Chicago.
It also was the finance and stock market center
it lost both the financial center and capital early when it was larger than NYC, actually was the 2nd largest English speaking city in the world at the time of the revolution
From Demographic trends it seems that Seattle, Tacoma, Portland, Vancouver BC, and Spokane were the only ones with any chance. Portland: 639,863
1890: 46,385
1900: 90,426
1910: 207,214
Interesting numbers, but they don't tell the whole story. Again the first wave of crucial years as it pertains to this discussion was 1880-1890. Prior to that, Portland was the largest city in the region. Seattle blew up in size by 1890, but Victoria was larger than Vancouver, which barely existed ten years prior. Bellingham at the time was actually four separate small cities (New Whatcom, Fairhaven, Sehome, and Bellingham) that consolidated in 1903, so it's total population was nearly the same population as both Canadian cities around that time.
Port Townsend was built mostly on speculation of the Northern Pacific line being completed. When it didn't happen, the community floundered. Bellingham, Victoria, and Vancouver had already seen boom and bust cycles with the Fraser River gold rush, and were in the running for future transcontinental railroads. When the CP stopped in Vancouver, it sealed Victoria's fate as a smaller place (though it remained capital of the province) and when the decision was made to not make Bellingham a substantial terminus, it relegated the city to a more linear growth pattern.
Again, my whole point was that during the time period that I'm referring to- mid-1880's to early 1890's- the other cities I mentioned- especially Port Townsend and Bellingham- could have been much bigger, if it were not for decisions made elsewhere, and in the case of Bellingham, a water fight between drunk Americans and Canadians.
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