Feb 18, 2026 | History, Industrial Revolution, North American Expansion
The 1860s were a pivotal point not only in the development of the railroad system in the United States, but also in the creation of a modern economy from coast to coast. In the wake of the Civil War, “Reconstruction” occupied the time and attention of much of the...
Nov 6, 2025 | History, North American Expansion
The 19th century was a complex era for the United States, rife with both destruction and construction. By the turn of the 20th century, the country was unrecognizable from its beginnings; it had more than tripled in area, endured four major wars, outlawed slavery, and...
Jul 30, 2025 | History, Industrial Revolution, North American Expansion
The Antebellum Era: A Time of Inferior Materials As the American railroad network was first being laid in the first half of the 19th century, it posed safety risks symptomatic of any new technology. U.S. President Franklin Pierce’s personal tragedy on January 6, 1853,...
Jun 12, 2025 | Benefits & Use, History, North American Expansion
A trestle is the simplest type of three-dimensional construction, but build hundreds—or even thousands—of trestles and you have a trestle structure, a series of repeating triangles that can be shaped into most anything. Like a piece in a child’s set of building...
May 29, 2024 | Benefits & Use, History, Industrial Revolution, North American Expansion
At the start of the 19th century, there was no Texas as we know it today. Rather, west of Louisiana—the French colony-turned-state at the conclusion of the War of 1812—was a dry and rugged patchwork of native American and Mexican-held lands. After two rounds of war...
Jul 20, 2023 | Benefits & Use, History, North American Expansion
By the early 20th century, a shared national identity was emerging in America. Fresh fruit and baseball would become a part of this new reality, fueled by the railroads and crossties that increasingly connected Florida to the rest of the nation. In the first...
