Shipping and Railroads

Chicago and New York expand their reach, riding rails, rivers and canals into the domestic countryside and foreign marketplace. Early incarnations of CBOT, NYMEX and CME link buyers and sellers across land and sea.

Railways and waterways from the East and Midwest meet in New York and Chicago, making them natural hubs for emerging markets. Basic markets for grains, livestock, butter, eggs and cheese are developed in the young, burgeoning cities.

Buffalo and Chicago steam packet, Empire State, c. mid-1800s

Railroads transporting grain products