Tourism and Mobility

Pricing, speed, comfort, convenience—mobility around the new networks of railroad, telegraph, and steamships sustained travel and tourism that transformed local spaces into imagined locations.

Documents related to this topic

  • N.D. | Time Table

    Atlantic & Great Western Railroad

    The Atlantic & Great Western Railroad stressed its safety record and comfortable, elegant, luxurious cars. The time table quotes former Illinois Congressman Elihu B. Washburn on the road's smooth ride and "clean, light, and airy" setting. The road also boasted that its passengers traveling in its beautifully appointed Pullman cars would "not have to leave the train between Chicago, Cincinnati, and St. Louis."

  • 1842 | Book

    American Notes for General Consideration

    Dicken's American Notes came from his 1842 trip to the United States. The author visited prisons, politicians, and toured primarily in New England and the Great Lakes region. In this excerpt, he describes American train travel in its early period, segregated railcars, and the distinctions between gentlemen's and ladies' cars.

  • 1850 | Book

    Phelps's Travellers' Guide Through the United States

    This pocket atlas listed over 700 railroads, steamship lines, and canals in the United States and their routes of service, state by state. Frederick Douglass probably consulted a rudimentary timetable in the Baltimore newspaper or one posted at the depot for the Baltimore to Philadelphia route, described here twelve years after Douglass made his escape from slavery on the Philadelphia, Wilmington, & Baltimore Railroad.

  • August 15, 1850 | Time Table

    Boston and Worcester Railroad Timetable, August 15, 1850

    This timetable, which took effect August 15, 1850, shows the departure and arrival times of trains on the Boston and Worcester Railroad.

  • October 29, 1850 | Illustration

    Hours of Departure of the Passenger Trains

    Note the delicate illustration of the passenger car in this advertisement.

  • May 5, 1851 | Time Table

    Boston and Maine Railroad Summer Timetable, May 5, 1851

    This timetable, which took effect May 5, 1851, shows the summer schedule for trains leaving Boston on the Boston & Maine Railroad.

  • November 1, 1853 | Time Table

    Boston and Worcester Railroad Timetable, November 1, 1853

    This timetable, which took effect November 1, 1853, shows arrival and departure times on the Boston and Worcester Railroad.

  • January 8, 1855 | Time Table

    Illinois Central Railroad, Time Table No. 1, January 8, 1855

    This Illinois Central Railroad time table, in effect starting January 8, 1855, notes the arrival and departure schedules for freight and passenger trains between Galena and Cairo, Illinois.

  • March 1, 1857 | Rate Tables

    North Western Virginia Railroad Passenger Rates, March 1, 1857

    This March 1, 1857 rate table for the North Western Virginia Railroad shows the distance between stations, lists the entire distance of the line, and gives passenger rates to and from various stations.

  • September 10, 1859 | Illustration

    Part of the Illinois Central Railroad Depot at Chicago

    This image from the September 10, 1859 issue of Harper's Weekly depicts a portion of the Illinois Central railroad depot at Chicago, Illinois. It illustrated an article entitled "The Great Graneries of Chicago," where it was noted "each of these immense buildings is capable of containing 700,000 bushels of wheat, and 225,000 can be received and stored in each of them in a single day."

  • March 3, 1860 | Illustration

    New York Militia En Route to Washington, D.C.

    This image from the March 3, 1860 issue of Harper's Weekly depicts soldiers from the New York state militia on their way to Washington, D.C. to attend the inauguration of a statue of George Washingon.

  • October 20, 1862 | Rate Tables

    Baltimore and Ohio Railroad Passenger Rates, October 20, 1862

    This Baltimore and Ohio Railroad passenger rate table, which took effect October 20, 1862, includes a note from E. W. Barker which states that, "This Tariff was in force from the 20th Oct. 1862 to 1st Jany. 1863."

  • December 8, 1862 | Time Table

    Boston and Worcester Railroad Timetable, December 8, 1862

    This timetable, which took effect December 8, 1862, shows arrival and departure times on the Boston and Worcester Railroad.

  • May 9, 1864 | Time Table

    Boston and Worcester Railroad Timetable, May 9, 1864

    This timetable, which took effect on May 9, 1864, shows arrival and departure times on the Boston and Worcester Railroad.

  • October 31, 1864 | Time Table

    Brookline Branch Railroad Timetable, October 31, 1864

    This timetable, which took effect October 31, 1864, shows departure times and fares on the Brookline Branch Railroad. It also features a complete schedule for "Newton Special Trains."

  • August 22, 1866 | Document

    Order for travel, Freedmen's Bureau

    A type of travel document issued for travel under the auspices of the Freemen's Bureau. This August 22, 1866, voucher authorizes travel from Washington, D. C. to Southwick, Massachusetts on the Philadelphia, Wilmington, and Baltimore Railroad. Many emancipated African Americans traveled American railroads to old and new homes in the wake of the Civil War - the Freemen's Burueau paid for much of the travel.

  • 1867 | Document

    Travel Accounting, Freedmen's Bureau

    An accounting of Freedmen's Bureau-sponsored travel on the Virginia Central Railroad during the first half of 1867. Many emancipated African Americans traveled American railroads to old and new homes in the wake of the Civil War - the Freemen's Burueau paid for much of the travel.

  • 1867 | Book

    Woman's Work in the Civil War:

    Published to celebrate the work of women during the Civil War, Woman's Work in the Civil War features the efforts of nurses, reformers, fund-raisers, and wives and mothers. In the section excerpted below, Miss Brayton of Ohio vividly describes the interior of a hospital train and recounts her experiences on one.

  • March 1, 1867 | Document

    Travel Order Freedmen's Bureau

    A Freedmen's Bureau travel voucher for 107 adults and 16 children (under 12) - "destitute freedpeople" traveling from Charlotte, North Carolina to Plaquemines, Louisiana. Generally, when large numbers of freedpeople travelled, it was under the terms of a labor contract.

  • May 31, 1867 | Letter

    Letter from George L. Dunlap to Jennie Reed, May 31, 1867

    In this letter from May 31, 1867, George L. Dunlap, General Superintendent of the Chicago & North Western Railway, writes to Jennie Reed, wife of Samuel Reed, informing her that he has granted and enclosed a railway pass for her per her request.

  • December 14, 1867 | Illustration

    Shooting Buffalo from the Trains of the Kansas Pacific Railroad

    This image from the December 14, 1867 issue of Harper's Weekly depicts men shooting buffalo for sport from Kansas Pacific Railroad cars.

  • 1868 | Book

    A Manual of Etiquette with Hints on Politeness and Good Breeding

    Manuals of etiquette and behavior were incredibly popular during the 19th Century and covered every aspect of life from infancy to mourning. In this excerpt, some of the gendered expectations placed on a well-bred traveler are recounted in detail.

  • March 4, 1868

    Catharine Brown, Complaint

    Catharine Brown filed suit against the Washington, Alexandria and Georgetown Railroad in March 1868, arguing that a month earlier she was forcibly and violently ejected from the ladies car in Alexandria, Virginia, because of her color. She sought damages of $20,000 to pay for her medical care and to compensate for the injustice of segregation and discrimination. Brown's original petition focused on the railroad's duty as a common carrier and on Brown's first-class ticket which permitted her to ride in the ladies car.

  • March 4, 1868 | Legal decision

    Catharine Brown, Plaintiff's Prayers

    A brief description of the judgement Catherine Brown hoped for as the jury decided her case.

  • May 30, 1868 | Illustration

    Aspinwall, New Granada, Central America

    This image from the May 30, 1868 issue of Harper's Weekly depicts the railroad and railway station at Aspinwall, New Granada (present day Colon, Panama) in Central America.

  • May 29, 1869 | Illustration

    Interior of a Palace Hotel Car Used on the Pacific Railroad

    This image from the May 29, 1869 issue of Harper's Weekly depicts wealthy train passengers being served in a palace hotel car on the Pacific Railroad.

  • December 31, 1869 | Legal decision

    Benjamin H. Hinds Deposition

    Catharine Brown's attorneys deposed two white men who were on the train with Brown and witnessed her expulsion from the cars in Alexandria. Both lived in Maine and were deposed in December 1869. Benjamin Hinds' testimony was particularly significant because he described in detail the violence he witnessed, and because he knew Brown "since January 1866," perhaps from her work in the U.S. Capitol, and tried to intervene on her behalf.

  • December 31, 1869 | Legal decision

    Seth E. Beedy Deposition

    Catharine Brown's attorneys deposed two white men who were on the train with Brown and witnessed her expulsion from the cars in Alexandria. Both lived in Maine and were deposed in December 1869. Seth Beedy was traveling with Benjamin Hinds, who knew and recognized "Kate" Brown. Beedy testified, "she was ejected by violence and that alone."

  • April 28, 1870 | Legal decision

    Draft of Catharine Brown, Evidence Given

    Catharine Brown's case--Case No. 4582--was scheduled to go to trial in October 1868 in the Supreme Court of the District of Columbia, but was delayed because of various procedural motions by the railroad's attorneys. When these motions were denied, the case was tried over three days in March 1870. The all white jury rendered a verdict of guilty against the railroad company and awarded Brown $1,500 in damages. Then, the defendant railroad attorney's sought an appeal to the U.S. Supreme Court. Here is their statement of argument, denying that the railroad used violence or made derogatory remarks. Furthermore, in denying Brown's claims, the railroad argued that there were distinctions between through and local passenger types of service, even on the Baltimore and Ohio, and that separate colored cars on local lines were run at the request of black passengers.

  • November 9, 1872 | Illustration

    The Workmen's Train

    This image from the November 9, 1872 issue of Harper's Weekly depicts a workmen's train in the subway of London, England as a part of a fictional story entitled London: A Pilgrimage by Gustave Doré and Blanchard Jerrold.

  • December 21, 1872 | Illustration

    Constructing Railroad Ties

    This image from the December 21, 1872 issue of Harper's Weekly depicts five people seated in a passenger car.

  • November 18, 1873 | Newspaper

    DISCRIMINATION ON ACCOUNT OF COLOR ON RAILROADS

    The New York Times reported on its front page the U.S. Supreme Court decision in Catharine Brown's case. The case aroused Republicans to reconsider the intent and purpose of the Congress in the midst of the Civil War because it turned on the railroad's Congressional charter from 1863 which clearly barred any discrimination on the basis of race or color. The railroad's main argument before the Supreme Court rested first on the idea that separate cars were customary, locally sanctioned, and equally accommodated, and second on the specious reasoning that because they carried colored passengers they had not violated the Congressional charter--colored persons were carried, just in a different car. The spirit of the Congress in 1863, the Court decided, suggested otherwise. The decision, however significant and newsworthy, was sorely limited in its application. Only a handful of railroads in the District of Columbia possessed such language in their originating charters.

  • May 29, 1875 | Illustration

    Shooting Antelopes From A Railroad Train In Colorado

    This scene from the May 29, 1875 issue of Harper's Weekly depicts a hunting party shooting pronghorn antelope from a railroad train in Colorado.

  • February 23, 1880 | Letter

    Letter from Genie Hathaway to Frank, February 23, 1880

    In the first part of her February 23, 1880 letter to Frank, Genie Hathaway rapturously describes the luxuries of riding in a Pullman car on the way to Chicago. She mentions several of her fellow passengers, one of whom is female world traveler. The second part of her letter describes the vulgarity of the passengers traveling with her in a "common car". Part of the letter is damaged.

  • 1880 | Time Table

    Baltimore and Ohio R.R.

    The Baltimore and Ohio was one of the oldest railroads in the nation and the first to break through the Allegheny Mountains to reach the Ohio River in 1857. In its 1880 time table the railroad stressed the natural features and wonders along its route and its picturesque sites. The road also used a massive map of the nation to expose its western connections.

  • 1881 | Book

    Leaves of Grass

    An excerpt from Walt Whitman's Leaves of Grass. Whitman salutes the locomotive as a symbol of progress and writes of the hallmarks of a Western journey.

  • September 1, 1881 | Time Table

    Chicago, Milwaukee and St. Paul Ry.

    The Chicago, Milwaukee & St. Paul Railway's 1881 time table featured linkages to "leading business centers" and "summer resorts of the Great North-West."

  • January 25, 1884 | Newspaper

    The Smoking Car

    This description of the masculine, almost class-free atmosphere in the smoking car is in sharp contrast to the requirements of the "ladies' cars" expected for middle-class female travelers. Note the sense of freedom men seem to experience in the cars.

  • August 1, 1884 | Time Table

    Chicago and North Western Railway

    The Chicago and Northwestern Railway's 1884 time table listed detailed times and maps for its extensive regional system.

  • 1885 | Time Table

    Chesapeake & Ohio Railway

    The Chesapeake and Ohio's 1885 time table featured excursion rates to "Old Point Comfort" on the Chesapeake Bay in Virginia. Pitched to male travelers, the brochure described "nymph-like bathers" at the resort hotel and "the merry laugh of some bewitching beauty." Travelers could also take steamship to Barbados, Rio de Janiero, or Para, Brazil, at "the mouth of the Amazon." The brochure also emphasized the picturesque scences of the Alleghenies and Virginia, where Civil War battlefields could be toured. "The battle of the Seven Pines was fought near where the railway runs," the brochure explained, "and McClellan's peninsular campaign has made this entire section of Virginia interesting."

  • March 1, 1885 | Time Table

    Boston and Albany

    The Boston & Albany's 1885 time table emphasized its connection with the New York Central and its modern safety, as the "only double track route from New England to the West."

  • 1885 | Time Table

    The Santa Fe Route

    The Atchison, Topeka & Santa Fe's 1885 time table emphasized its connections not only to California but also to Mexico City on the Mexico Central Railroad. Its large map featured detailed insets of Baja California and Mexico for tourists and travelers, and its inside folds described special rates for "land explorers" and emigrants.

  • 1886 | Book

    A Lady's Life in the Rocky Mountains

    Isabella Bird, a peripatetic traveler, recounted her adventures in the American West to her sister in letters published as A Lady's Life in the Rocky Mountains. In this excerpt, she writes about part of her 1873 train journey, describing the parlor car and conditions on the train.

  • 1886 | Time Table

    Chicago and Atlantic Railway

    The Chicago and Atlantic Railway's 1886 time table emphasized its "straight line" to the East and the "smoothness and evenness" of its grade. The road used "the best of steel rails only" and boasted "three thousand oak ties to the mile."

  • 1886 | Time Table

    Chicago and Alton R.R.

    The Chicago and Alton time table stressed the regional, midwestern connections for St. Louis and Kansas City.

  • 1887 | Time Table

    Atlantic and Pacific Railroad

    The Atlantic and Pacific Railroad's 1887 time table featured the speed of its route from St. Louis, Kansas City, or Chicago to Los Angeles. The time table emphasized express trains and fewer changes of cars than competing lines.

  • December 10, 1888 | Time Table

    Chicago and North-Western Railway

    The 1888 Chicago and North-Western Railway emphasized "cheap farms and free homes" in Northern Nebraska along the Elkhorn Valley, the Niobrara Valley, and into the Black Hills in South Dakota. The time table included detailed descriptions of homestead policies and land availability for immigrants and settlers.

  • 1890 | Book

    Manners, Culture and Dress of the Best American Society

    Manuals of etiquette and behavior were incredibly popular during the 19th Century and covered every aspect of life from infancy to mourning. In this excerpt, some of the highly gendered expectations placed on a well-bred traveler on the railroad or on a steamboat are explained in detail.

  • February 7, 1891 | Time Table

    Canadian Pacific Railway

  • August 20, 1891 | Time Table

    The Burlington

    The Chicago, Burlington & Northern's 1891 time table adopted a compass-like circular image representing the major points accessible on the line. This table also featured the history of the line and the picturesque sites along its route.

  • 1892 | Book

    A Voice From the South: By A Woman of the South

    Anna J. Cooper, the first African American woman to earn a PhD, worked as a speaker, educator, and reformer. In this excerpt from Voice From the South Cooper addresses the contrast between the expectations of any middle-class, well-dressed woman traveling and the realities of the experience for African American women. Read with Richard Wells' Manners, Culture and Dress of the Best American Society, also featured on this site.

  • 1892 | Time Table

    Santa Fe Route

    This 1892 Atchison, Topeka & Santa Fe time table featured detailed insets with maps of its subsidiary lines.

  • 1893 | Time Table

    Chicago Great Western Railway

    The Chicago Great Western Railway's 1893 time table placed its line in the center of a globe-like image. The road stressed its comfortable "compartmented sleeping cars."

  • 1898 | Map

    The United State Railroad System, 1890

    This map from the 1898 Statistical Atlas of the United States depicts the entire United States railroad system in 1890. The accompanying table charts the increase in railroad mileage from 1830 to 1890.

  • 1900 | Book

    Sister Carrie

    An excerpt from Theodore Dreiser's Sister Carrie.

  • 1907 | Book

    The Road

    An excerpt from Jack London's The Road.

  • March 1, 1907 | Time Table

    Santa Fe

    By 1907 railroads were producing elaborate time tables with detailed connecting information, rates, and times. The Santa Fe Railroad emphasized detailed times and schedules for this large system.

  • 1911 | Photograph

    A Manicure on the "Modern Train"

    This image from The Modern Railroad (1911) captures a white, female passenger receiving a manicure from an African-American woman while aboard the railroad.

  • 1911 | Photograph

    An Early Locomotive

    This image from The Modern Railroad, published in 1911, shows one of the earliest locomotives built for the Philadelphia and Reading Railroad.

  • 1911 | Photograph

    Great Northern Locomotives: Old and New

    This image from The Modern Railroad(1911), shows the first engine of the James J. Hill system sitting next to one of the Great Northern Railroad's more recent models.

  • 1911 | Photograph

    Interior of a Dining Car

    This image from The Modern Railroad (1911) captures the interior of an elegant dining car, including several of its male and female passengers.

  • 1911 | Photograph

    The "John Bull" Locomotive

    This image from Edward Hungerford's The Modern Railroad (1911) features the "John Bull," a historic locomotive of the Camden and Amboy railroad.

  • 1911 | Photograph

    The Biggest Locomotive in the World

    This image from The Modern Railroad (1911), showcases "the biggest locomotive in the world," a huge engine built by the Santa Fe Railroad in its Topeka, Kansas shops.

  • September 15, 1912 | Time Table

    The Chicago Milwaukee & Puget Sound Railway

    The Chicago, Milwaukee & Puget Sound Railway in 1912 stressed the opportunities in the Northwestern United States. This "new land" would allow the farmer to "pay for his land in two crops" and the "investor" to "make large and quick profits."

  • 1918 | Book

    My Ántonia

    An excerpt from Willa Cather's My Ántonia.

  • 1921 | Book

    The School Days of an Indian Girl

    Zitkalŕ-Sa (Gertrude Bonnin) writes about her sense of dislocation on the railroad as she was taken to boarding school and the feelings she had on her return home.

  • 1925 | Map

    Map Showing the Centers Of Population, 1790-1920

    These two maps from the 1925 Statistical Atlas of the United States offer regional and national geographical representations of the changing centers of population in the United States from 1790 to 1920.

  • March 4, 1928 | Time Table

    Chicago and North Western Line

    The Chicago and Northwestern Railway's 1928 time table emphasized planning "your summer vacation" to Yellowstone, Rocky Mountain, Zion, Grand Canyon, Bryce, Yosemite, and Ranier National Parks, as well as other western mountain sites.

  • 1932 | Map

    Centers of Population

    This map from the 1932 Atlas of the Historical Geography of the United States offers a geographic rendering of the United States' center of population from 1790 to 1930. It references six organizational categories, including total population, urban population, rural population, foreign-born population, and Negro population.

  • 1932 | Map

    Federal Land Grants for the Construction of Railroads and Wagon Roads 1823-1871

    This map from the 1932 Atlas of the Historical Geography of the United States reveals the United States land grants available for the construction of railroads and wagon roads between 1823-1871. As the key indicates, dark lines represent the limits of the land grants, while white and striped areas differentiate between unforfeited and forfeited Federal land grants for railroads.

  • 1932 | Map

    Railroad Travel Rates, 1800-1930

    This series of maps from the 1932 Atlas of the Historical Geography of the United States shows the progressive decrease in travel time by depicting the time required to travel from New York to various western locations in 1800, 1830, 1857, AND 1930.

  • 1932 | Map

    Railroads 1850 and 1860; Overland Mail, 1850-1869

    These two maps from the 1932 Atlas of the Historical Geography of the United States display overland mail routes and railroad lines in the United States during the mid-nineteenth century. The maps show the extent of railroads in 1850 and 1860 and overland mail from 1850 to 1869.

  • 1932 | Map

    Railroads in Operation, December, 1840

    This map from the 1932 Atlas of the Historical Geography of the United States depicts the various railroad lines operating in the United States in 1840.

  • 1932 | Map

    The Harriman Railroad System, 1912

    This map from the 1932 Atlas of the Historical Geography of the United States displays the Harriman Railroad System in 1914, including the Union Pacific, Southern Pacific, and Los Angeles, San Pedro, and Salt Lake railroads.

  • 1932 | Map

    The New England Railroad System, 1914

    This map from the 1932 Atlas of the Historical Geography of the United States depicts the New England railroad system in 1914, including the New York, New Haven, and Hartford, the Boston and Maine, and the Maine Central railroads.

  • 1932 | Map

    The New York Central Railroad System, 1914

    This map from the 1932 Atlas of the Historical Geography of the United States displays the extent of the New York Central railroad system in 1914.

  • 1932 | Map

    The Pennsylvania Railroad System, 1914

    This map from the 1932 Atlas of the Historical Geography of the United States displays the extent of the Pennsylvania railroad system in 1914.

  • 1932 | Map

    The Southern Railroad System, 1913

    This map from the 1932 Atlas of the Historical Geography of the United States displays the extent of the Southern railroad system in 1913.

  • 1932 | Map

    United States Railroads Lines, 1870

    This map from the 1932 Atlas of the Historical Geography of the United States displays the United States' railroad lines in 1870 as well as some of the major cities they connected.

  • 1932 | Map

    Western Railroad Lines, 1880 and 1930

    These two maps from the 1932 Atlas of the Historical Geography of the United States depict the extent of western railroads in 1880 and 1930. They illustrate the tremendous growth of the railroad in the western United States during this fifty-year period.

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