Stanford University
CESTA

This website is no longer updated and has been replaced with a static copy. The Spatial History Project was active at Stanford University from 2007-2022, engaging in dozens of collaborative projects led by faculty, staff, graduate students, post-docs, visiting scholars and others at Stanford and beyond. More than 150 undergraduate students from more than a dozen disciplines contributed to these projects. In addition to a robust intellectual exchange built through these partnerships, research outputs included major monographs, edited volumes, journal articles, museum exhibitions, digital articles, robust websites, and dozens of lightweight interactive visualizations, mostly developed with Adobe Flash (now defunct). While most of those publications live on in other forms, the content exclusive to this website is preserved in good faith through this static version of the site. Flash-based content is partially available in emulated form using the Ruffle emulator.
The Expansion of the Western Railroad
The Expansion of the Western Railroad

WARNING: These maps have been removed.

Authors: Toral Patel and Richard White


These three snapshots of the Western United States in 1879, 1885 and 1893 show the growth of railroads across the American West.

Please note that the extent of rail line between El Paso and San Antonio in the 1885 and 1893 maps was originally mislabeled as Texas & Pacific. This line was actually the Galveston, Harrisburg & San Antonio in 1885 and Southern Pacific by 1893. The line north, between El Paso and Dallas, was part of the Texas & Pacific.

RELATED VISUALIZATIONS:
Quad Index
Quad Index
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Seeing Space in Terms of Track Length and Cost of Shipping
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The Rise in the American Railway Union, 1893-1894
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Population Density in the United States from 1790 to 2000
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Union Pacific Shipping from Nebraska: Forwarded/Received
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Exports from Colorado by Station in 1885
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California Railroad Commission,
Station Construction Data, 1850-1900
Distribution of Union Pacific Stockholders by City (1869)
Distribution of Union Pacific Stockholders by City (1869)
Play
Union Pacific Shipping from Nebraska: East/West
Play
Western Railroads and Eastern Capital: Regional Networks on Railroad Boards of Directors, 1872-1894
Play
Tracing Railroad Directors, 1872-1894
Extent of Digitized Railroad
Extent of Digitized Railroad
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Patterns of Change in Railroad Company Board Members, 1872-1894
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Cattle Production in the American West, 1867-1935
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Railroad Repeats: The Alfred A. Hart Photo Project
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Per Capita Income in the United States: 1880-1910
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The Central Pacific and Transcontinental Eleven Step:
How to Run a Transcontinental Railroad
Examples of Digitizing Rail from Historic USGS Quads
Examples of Digitizing Rail from Historic USGS Quads
Spatial History