Figure 1.--This undated photo was taken in front of the post office of Sherman, a small settlement in Wexford County, Michigan. Notice how the Fauntleroy style had reacged rural areas. While undated, the clothing suggests it was taken about 1895. Click on the image to see a neaerby school about the same time.

America crossed a major demographic milestone in the 1890s. By the end of the decade we find the country crossing into half the people living in the cities. This was the result ofthe steady industrialization of the country. American in the 1890s became a major world power in industrial capacity. This was not fully recognized in Europe, although Britain and other countries were having increasing problems competing with American industry. The railroad was rapidly changing the face of the country. Rivers played an important role in determining settlment of eastern America. Amertica by the 1890s had the largest rail system in the world. And it was the railroads that would be the primary factor in settling America west of the Mississippi. And by the 1890s, European immigration was beginning to make fundamental changes in the ethnic and religious make up of the country, especiallybin the northeast and industrial Midwest. The South remained lasrgely rural, although the progressive movementin the Noth was beginning to cause the textile industry to shift south. Most black Americans continued to live in rural areas of the south in abject poverty, restricted by the Jim Crow segregationit laws. We begin to see more photography outside the studio in the 1890s which provide interesting demographic images, but it was not until the 1900s that we see large number of amateur snapshots that depictevery aspect of American life.

Created: 11:31 AM 10/14/2010
Last updated: 11:31 AM 10/14/2010