Canals, railroads, and the roads that carried a country west.
4 markers in this collection.
Promontory, UT · est. 1957
Two railroads — one built east from California largely by Chinese laborers, the other west across the plains — joined rails at Promontory. The country could now be crossed in days instead of months.
Lockport, NY · est. 1976
To lift canal boats 60 feet over the Niagara Escarpment, engineers built five paired locks — boats going up on one side while others descended. The project drew workers from across Europe and gave the city of Lockport its name.
Lowell, MA · est. 1978
Lowell harnessed the Merrimack's drop through a network of power canals to run the nation's first integrated cotton mills. Its young women workers — the 'Lowell mill girls' — wrote the first chapters of American labor history.
Seligman, AZ · est. 2001
When Interstate 40 bypassed the town, barber Angel Delgadillo organized to save the 'Mother Road.' His effort revived Route 66 as a nostalgic travel corridor across the Southwest.