Bridges, Subways, Elevators, Skyscrapers, and Electrification in the Early 19th Century

World Changing Innovations of the Early 19th Century

Brad Layton

Before any innovations began in the 19th century, every city needed to develop a strong electrical system to begin these new technologies and modernize what already existed. The electrification of cities changed the daily lives of many and allowed for many cities to expand and house more people. Cities consisted of AC systems and DC systems that allowed the city to run electricity. AC systems supplied larger areas and DC systems supplied smaller areas, but for a smaller cost. These electrical systems allowed for three electric lighting systems to begin to be installed throughout cities. These systems were the base for an expanding social life that wasn’t slowly down,  “Constructing systems was a social process and an important aspect of technological change, since electrical manufactures and customers had to work closely together to identify critical problems, the solution of which was necessary for operating and expanding systems.” These electricity systems allowed for all ideas of innovation to become more possible and quicker to achieve. This allowed for streetcars, elevated and commuter rail, subways, buses, ferries, and elevators to all become a common reality during the early 19th century.

Early Los Angeles Subway

In the early 19th century, more advanced sources of mass transit were beginning to become more common, such as streetcars, elevated and commuter rail, subways, buses, ferries, and elevators. These all started as small connected passages, but soon progressed into a wide network throughout the entire country. These sources of transportation changed the urban scene completely in the early 19th century. The daily routine of everyone was made quicker and more efficient by these sources and allowed for them to commute all throughout the city. Streetcars, subways, and buses allowed for quicker sources of transportation and were found all throughout the city, “The many streetcar lines that radiated from central business districts across the United States increased accessibility to and from downtown. The shapes, spectacles, and symbols of what is still associated today with “downtown”—business skyscrapers and other tall buildings as well as large theaters, department stores, hotels, and other palaces of consumption—emerged with the arrival of horsecars, but they reached a new scale with electric streetcars.” Along with everyday life, Ferry boats and steamships changed the industrial world forever. These boats allowed for the transportation of many goods across large bodies of water and also helped to expand urban settlement. Although these sources of mass transit changed many lives, by the end of 1920, mass transit was starting to hit a decline as automobile ownership became dominant. As personal automobiles became more common, it allowed for mass transit to become cheaper and more people could use it in their daily lives. From mass transit to the first personal automobile, the early 19th century shaped the daily lives of everyone living in these cities.

Early Street car

Before bridges, the only way to travel over land that could not be crossed by automobile was by boat or had to be traveled around, which uses more time and money. One of the earliest bridges was the golden gate bridge, that linked the northern part of the city of San Francisco to Marin County, California. Before this bridge, the only way to get across this body of water was by ferry. This bridge has a  4,200 foot long suspension span, which made it the largest bridge suspension bridge. Since its opening in 1937, it has allowed almost 2 billion automobiles to cross it. During the beginning stages of building, many saw the construction as impossible due to its size and the fact that it was being built at the beginning of the Great Depression, “Some members of the engineering community said it was technically impossible to build the bridge, and it was not easy to raise funding for the project at the beginning of the Great Depression (a $35 million bond issue to finance construction of the bridge was passed in California in 1930).” The Golden Gate Bridge was the largest and one of the most important innovations of the 19th century. This bridge allowed for more larger cities to see the advancement that this it made in transportation and make them want to build one themselves. This bridge became the influence for the building of New York City’s Verrazano-Narrows Bridge, which opened in 1964. The innovation and advances of bridges in the 19th century have influenced how people travel today and are still modern marvels to the eyes of many.

Golden Gate Bridge

The building of the New York City subway was a proposition by wealthy businessmen who weren’t viewed very well by the public. This build was designed and supervised by the Chief Engineer, William Barclay Parsons. Parsons knew that almost everyone in that community would want to help construct one of the world’s most important innovations, "In after years every man connected with the construction of the New York Subway will be proud to say that he was on this work.” Although everyone wanted to have a hand in such a large construction, it was the result of two failed attempts that made it possible. The building of New York City's first subway came after two unsuccessful attempts to get capitalists interested in the project. Although this would become apart of New York City’s vast public mass transit, the city was too afraid to fund the project completely, due to the risk of failure. The subway build could not break ground yet until it a source of money was funded. This source finally came from a man named John B. McDonald at his donation of 35 million dollars. Once the money was funded and a man named August Belmont was at the command, on March 24, 1900, construction began. After 3 years and 7 months of building, on October 27, 1904,  the “Subway age” of New York had finally begun. This 35 mile system, that ended up costing more than 75 million dollars, was finally open for public use. This broadened the lives of many people living in the north and south parts of New York City, giving them a much easier and faster way to travel across the city. Along with a whole new life, this subway kickstarted more projects throughout the city as well. The Independent Newspaper published on October 20, 1904, states, “The new $5,000,000 Trinity Building, in course of construction. The tenants of this building will not come to the surface of the street to go to and from business, but will walk through a large underground arcade lined with stores and kiosks. Here a man can buy his evening newspapers, tickets to theaters, flowers and candy for home or girl, and hundreds of other necessities or luxuries.” The subway created a whole new underground life that transformed the daily routine of every single person living in these communities. This massive project made the people of New York proud and it brought to them and the rest of the nation the idea that a “New World” had begun.

New York City's First Subway

As the destruction of New York’s first skyscraper, the Flatiron Building, that astonished so many, The Sun Newspaper, explains the end of the most iconic building in New York. The new building to take the old skyscrapers places is for the  Pan-American States Association to occupy. This building was set to be 50 feet higher than the Woolworth tower, which at that time was the highest building in the world. Twenty-six years earlier, the city was full of excitement for their first high-rise building constructed of a steel frame. Although the city was thrilled twenty-six years ago, they were not as excited to hear about the new Pan-American building. The people of New York took pride in the old tower that stood there before. The city believes that the old tower is too old and can’t compete with the more modern towers, “It came as an experiment, gained success in spite of general ridicule and finally formed a beginning for all high buildings of recent times. Now it has outlived its usefulness. It cannot compete with the giants of its own family and, like all ancestors, it is to be laid away in its grave.” These massive buildings from Chicago to New York changed the world. These buildings brought a new and astounding view of the city surrounding them, while also bringing more jobs and more space for people to work within the city. Along with these advantages, these massive buildings is the symbolism that it brings to a city and country. These buildings attracted many visitors that are captivated by the  size in these buildings. Skyscrapers symbolized the technological advances of the “New World” as technology progressed, it was shown through how high and massive these buildings started to become. The city believed that their buildings must progress as technology progressed and as the demand for more work space became greater, these buildings had no option, but to become larger. As skyscrapers became larger, they were also equipped with the electric lighting and electric elevators. These electric elevators were able to move large amounts of people and goods from floor to floor more quickly than ever before. These technological advances helped the cities to progress towards more success than ever before.

New York City's First Skyscraper

The Innovations of bridges, subways, elevators, skyscrapers, and the overall electrification of cities in the early 19th century shaped the United States of America forever. These innovations still have a lasting touch on modern day and have laid the ground work for the next century. As these innovations changed many lives in the 19th century, they still are apart of millions of every-day lives today. These ideas have allowed us to grow our population and allow companies to achieve more success than ever imaginable. Without these innovations, we would not be able to expand our country and we would not be nearly as successful. 

Work Cited 

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