Harbors as Factors in the Growth of Cities.—A good harbor draws trade from a great distance. Thus, with a rate of 14½ cents on a bushel of wheat from Chicago, New York City draws a trade from a region having a radius of more than one thousand miles. In its trade with Chinese ports, Seattle, the chief port of Puget Sound, reaches as far eastward as London and Hamburg.
Water-Power as a Factor.—The presence of water-power has brought about the establishment of many centres that have grown into populous cities. The water-power of the New England plateau had much to do with the rapid growth of the New England States. At the time of the various embargo and non-intercourse acts preceding the war of 1812, a great amount of capital was thrown into idleness. The water-power was made available because, during this time, the people were compelled to manufacture for themselves the commodities that before had been imported.
The manufacturing industry at first was prosecuted in the southern Appalachians as well as in the New England plateau. It survived in the latter, partly because of the capital available, and partly owing to the business experience of the people. In the meantime villages sprang up in pretty nearly every locality in which there was available water-power.
Since the use of coal and the advent of cheap railway transportation, steam has largely supplanted water-power, unless the latter is unlimited in supply. As a result, there is a marked growth of the smaller centres of population along the various water-fronts. In such cases the advantages of a water-front offset the loss of water-power.
The Effects of Metals on the Growth of Cities.—The character of the industry of a region has much to do with the character of its manufactures. Thus, coal is absolutely essential to the manufacture of iron and steel; and, inasmuch as from two to eight tons of the former are necessary to manufacture a ton of steel, it is cheaper to ship the ore to a place to which coal can be cheaply brought.
The coal-fields are responsible for the greater part of Pittsburg's population, and almost wholly for that of Scranton, Wilkesbarre, and many other Pennsylvania towns. Iron and coal are responsible, also, for many cities and towns in the vicinity of the Great Lakes. Birmingham, Salford, and Cardiff in Great Britain, Dortmund and Essen in Germany, and St. Étienne in France have resulted from the presence of coal and iron.
In many instances man is a great factor in the establishment of a centre of population. Chicago would have been quite as well off in two or three other locations; its present location is the result of man's energy and is not likely to be changed. St. Louis might have been built at a dozen different places and would have fared just as well; the same is true of St. Paul, or of Indianapolis.
Leavenworth at one time was a more promising city than Kansas City, but the building of an iron bridge over the Missouri River at the latter place gave it a start, and wide-awake men kept it in the lead. It has grown at the expense of Leavenworth and St. Joseph, neither one of which has become a commercial centre. Cairo, at the junction of the Mississippi and Ohio Rivers, has the geographical position for a great city; it waits for the man who can concentrate the commerce there.
Adjustment to Environment.—San Francisco was wisely located at first, but its grain trade was more economically carried on at Karquinez Strait, while its oriental trade is gradually concentrating at Seattle. Philadelphia lost its commercial supremacy when the completion of the Erie Canal gave return cargoes to foreign vessels discharging at New York City. Oswego, N.Y., had the advantage of both harbor facilities and water-power, but Syracuse, with practically no advantages except those of leadership, has far outstripped it.