Inventing The Metropolis

A History Of The United State

Humans prefer to live together in groups, an evolutionary trait that has developed for the general safety of the members of a troop (primates) or tribe (human). Very few people can live in total isolation from other people without developing mental health issues. Personal social circles are generally limited to less than 150 people, and that was about the maximum size of most rural settlements — just big enough that everyone knew one another.

But humans have developed cities with populations of several thousand, and even several million people. We divide our cities into various neighborhoods and boroughs, areas which may have been individual settlements before they grew into one another. A neighborhood usually consists of a few hundred families. In this way, even as we live in cities of several million people, we still maintain a sense of living in small settlements.

Rural settlements had a few straw huts along a main road, a pub or inn at a the center or at a crossroad, and a shrine or chapel. The lord’s manor might have been a mud and daub house with one or two rooms and a thatched roof.

Villages had a main road, or High Street in England. A church, with a cemetery, would be on one end of the town. The lord’s manor house, or castle, made of stone, brick, or half timber would be at the other end of town. Along the main road would be pubs, inns, stables, blacksmiths, breweries, wainwrights and other trades, and the village commons. Houses in a village were usually made of mud and daub, with two rooms and maybe a sleeping loft.

In Europe, urban design in larger towns was usually based on the Roman urban plan: square or rectangular blocks, streets paved with cobbles or bricks, with boardwalks bordering the major streets. Ditches alongside the streets and roads acted as open air sewers and removed rainwater and waste from the town. Industrial areas were set apart from residential areas, and necessary trades were placed in convenient locations within the town. Most towns had walls to protect them in times of war or unrest, and guards patrolled the main streets to keep the peace. Springs, tributary streams, fountains or other water inlets provided water for the residents.

With the influx of larger, more diverse populations, the concept of “city” had to change. A large, urban center could not grow haphazardly without major problems. Congestion brought traffic to a stand still. Human and animal waste piled up, bringing disease and vermin. Sewage fouled the sources of freshwater, so clean water had to be supplied from outside sources. There had to be places to purchase food and other goods. Fires had to be prevented. There had to be some means to take care of the sick and the dead.

Out of necessity, larger cities had more complex forms of government than small rural settlements. It wasn’t unusual for a city to outgrow a government’s ability to govern and solve problems. So local government had to evolve with the city.

Potable water was usually a determining factor as to where a settlement was located. Clean water was a year-round necessity, so most settlements were established along rivers, streams, lakes, springs, or other locations where water was available all year. Since antiquity, most important cities have been built on the banks of major rivers that are a reliable source of water. Water was needed for drinking and sanitary purposes. Water was the only means to rid a city of filth and waste on a regular basis, and depositing that waste away from the population.

For various reasons a settlement might be established in a location where there was not a ready source of fresh water such as Qumran, Israel; Chaco Canyon, New Mexico; or the Tirari Desert, Australia. Because of the scarcity of water, the population of these settlements generally remained small or widely dispersed. In these locations, the inhabitants utilized a complex system of ditches, canals, wells and cisterns to ensure an adequate supply of water. These man-made features might cover several hundred square miles in order to ensure the collection of as much water as possible during the rainy season.

Around 1300 BCE, the village that would become Rome was built alongside the Tiber River, on Palatine Hill. The river acted as the main water source for the village, as well as its sewer.

On 21 April 753 BCE, according to legend, Rome was founded by Romulus after he killed his brother Remus.

In 600 BCE, the Romans built the Cloaca Maxima, a vast sewer, to drain the marshes around Rome and to remove waste from the city. The Cloaca Maxima was so large it had its own goddess, the Venus Cloaca. The sewer was originally an open air ditch that was later enclosed for most of its length, from the Forum Augustum to the Ponte Rotto and Ponte Palatino on the Tiber River. All public toilets and baths were connected to the Cloaca Maxima.

By 312 BCE, the Cloaca Maxima had fouled the water of the Tiber below the the locations where it flowed into the river. Private and community wells were dug, but the waste from the sewer contaminated the groundwater in Rome making springs, wells and cisterns unsafe sources of water. The Romans began building aqueducts to bring clean water into the city and reservoirs were constructed to store this water. The water from aqueducts and reservoirs fed the fountains and basins that provided most of the city with fresh water.

Rome’s aqueducts did such a good job at supplying water, that Romans erected aqueducts and installed fountains and basins in many towns and cities across the empire. Many Roman aqueducts and fountains still stand and some are still in use.

On 24 and 25 October 79 CE, Mt. Vesuvius erupted, destroying the cities of Pompeii and Herculaneum under more than 12’ of volcanic ash and debris, preserving both cities in remarkable detail. Several thousand people died as a result of the eruption and the cities were largely forgotten as the result of the disaster. The City of Naples began to expand and built on top of the ruins of Pompeii and Herculaneum.

Disasters happen all the time, and take on many shapes and forms. Disasters can be natural, manmade, or a mixture of both. Disasters are events that every city experiences, usually more than once. They can erase an entire civilization, or they can open opportunities for renewal. While the harm caused by most disasters cannot be entirely prevented, they usually can be mitigated.

By 98, Rome had 40 large fountains and 590 basins for public use, plus water supplied to the Imperial household and other private villas.

By 100, all 11 aqueducts that brought water into Rome emptied into the Cloaca Maxima.

In 409, the Anglo-Saxon invasion of England began.

On 4 September 476, the Western Roman Empire fell and the Vandals sacked the City of Rome.

On 14 October 1066, the Norman invasion of England began.

In the 1070s, London is estimated to have a population of 18,000 people.

By 1100, the first post-and-lintel houses were built in Europe. Post-and-lintel construction allowed for a sturdy, multi-story building without the use of nails.

By 1300, London's population is estimated to be between 80,000 and 100,000 people. This is the height of London’s population before the Black Death.

In the 14th Century, toilet paper was invented in China. Otherwise, people used their hands, leaves, grass, straw, saw dust, old cloths, sponges, wool, hemp, corn cobs, newspapers, pulp magazines, or other items to wipe themselves with.

By 1360, iron rebar was being widely used in the construction of arches, vaults, and cupolas in churches and other buildings.

In 1370, the sewers of Paris start to be dug. The original purpose of the sewers are to reduce the incident of plague in the city at a time when the plague is thought to be caused by miasma, or bad air. The streets of Paris, like most cities of the time, are an open cesspool of standing water, human and animal waste, garbage, and dead animals and people. The stench, especially in summer, was unbearable as the sewage decomposed in the heat.

The sewers were a means to remove water from the main streets of Paris. They also removed human and animal waste and garbage that accumulated in the streets, washing the sewage into the Seine River.

As the sewers were dug, many cemeteries were dug up and the bones of hundreds of thousands of people were placed in the catacombs that branched off of the main sewers. Eventually, a network of tunnels, grottos and basements connect to the sewers, allowing for the underground movement of people and goods.

By 1377, London's population is estimated to be as low as 40,000 people, after the arrival of the bubonic plague, or the Black Death. This is over three times the size of the next largest English city, York, but smaller than other cities such as Paris, Rome, Venice and Bruges. 90% of Londoners died before the age of 45, although wealthy people were more likely to live to 70 or 80.

In the aftermath of the Black Death, people in Europe and England left rural settlements for cities that provided better economic opportunities and living conditions. This movement of population brought an end to feudalism and began capitalism as the main economic model in Europe.

In Europe, cities tended to be established at a location where a fort, royal palace, or cathedral was established. The fort could be a castle or keep, erected either by the royalty or nobleman. Cities provided people greater protection during times of war or unrest, and easier access to religious services. The density population of a city would attract merchants and local farmers, who would bring their goods, excess crops and animals, and other commodities to sell on market days.

Even as feudalism was slowly being replaced by capitalism, the land upon which a city arose was the property of a lord or the Church. Instead of owing the local lord some term of service, the people who lived in a city would usually lease or rent property from the lord, and would build a house on that land. Leases might be for years or decades with payments made yearly or semiannually.

Most cities were protected by walls. Property within the walls was at a premium, and property outside of the walls of lesser value. Walls limited the amount of land available to live on, so cities tended to become very crowded.

By 1450, the townhouse, also known as the Tudor house or half-timber house, began to make its appearance in the cities of Europe. Townhouses were post-and-lintel construction, with the ground floor having brick or stone outer walls and the upper walls being wattle and daub with a limestone whitewash and timber frames. Townhouses were usually brightly colored in order to help people find the right house.

Townhouses usually had tiled roofs made of clay, slate or lead. Some had thatched roofing, though many cities prohibited such building material because of their fire risk. A townhouse was two to seven stories in height. They usually housed multiple families, with each family inhabiting a different floor, or even parts of a floor. The ground floor often served as space for a business or trade. There was very little privacy in a townhouse.

Townhouses had no kitchens. Cooking was done on the fireplace. If a residence had a kitchen, then it was a separate building behind the main house. Most people didn’t bake, but would purchase bread from local bakers, one of the new businesses that started to spring up in towns and cities across Europe.

Townhouses were built with no space in between adjoining houses. Since housing space in cities was at a premium, most townhouses had no yards. They were built right on the edge of the street with maybe just enough room for pedestrians to walk without being in the roadway.

If there was a backyard, then it might be shared with several households with most of the room being used for business purposes, maybe with a small garden and a cesspool or a shared outhouse.

Since most townhouses had no yards, chamber pots were used and after each use, or first thing in the morning, the contents were tossed out onto the street below, sometimes without any warning.

Townhouses of wealthy residents might have an indoor privy which could be either a chamber pot contained within a commode or side table, or a closet containing a latrine that emptied into a cesspit under the house.

Between 1400 and 1860, the streets of Europe and America were open sewers and cesspools filled with human and animal waste; the effluent from slaughter houses, factories, and businesses; dead animals and people; and the trash and filth of the surrounding city. Any creeks, steams, or ditches running through a city was used to transport the waste to larger rivers, usually the source of the city’s drinking water, and out of the immediate area.

A city might be home to millions of horses, used for riding as well as labor. These horses would have produced several thousands of tons of manure a day, and that manure has to go someplace. Most people didn’t have the room to keep a horse, so cities had livery stables where the animals were kept. Livery stables had compost heaps that decomposed the piles of manure that built up, and the compost was used in gardens or was washed away by the rain. 

Dealing with dead horses in the streets was a problem. Thousands of horses might die in the city’s streets everyday. The owner of the horse would simply unhook their wagon from the dead animal and get a new horse and continue on, leaving the dead horse behind. Rats and other vermin would feed on the dead, rotting animals.

When it rained, the dirt streets would become quagmires. Wagons would be unable to move due to the depth of the mud and muck. It wasn’t uncommon for the depth of the mud and muck to exceed the height of wheel hubs.

To solve this problem, cities started to pave major and important streets with cobblestone or brick, set in sand or mortar. This allowed water to dissipate rather quickly, and ensured that the streets remained passable. This also resulted in the covering up of the smaller creeks and streams that flowed through most cities, and the accumulation of solid wastes and animal carcuses in the streets.

In Europe, cities became too much of an economic burden on manorial lords under their fiefdoms. The lords either returned expensive cities back to the king or the church, or allowed the cities to be free and no longer subject to feudal obligations. This, in turn, resulted in a crisis of local government as most kingdoms could not afford the expense of maintaining several cities and towns without raising taxes, tariffs and duties to an oppressive degree resulting in revolts, revolutions and civil wars.

In England, the crisis of local government was solved by the introduction of a royal charter of incorporation. This allowed a town to be governed by elected or appointed aldermen, acting as a legislative council, with a mayor, acting as chief executive officer, independent of a feudal lord. An incorporated town was able to enact its own municipal laws, appoint officials to enforce those laws, establish municipal courts in which to try those accused of breaking municipal laws, and to carry out such sentences as imposed by the municipal courts.

Soon thereafter, charters of incorporation, issued by the king or by municipalities, were used by tradesmen to establish guilds overseeing workers in various trades. Guilds established who could carry out business with the approval of the guild; the means by which the work was to be carried out; and set the standards by which apprentices, usually indentured servants, would be trained until they were ready to start their own businesses. Guilds were a way to reduce competition, improve quality of goods or services, and established a standardization of prices.

Tradesmen then started to join together, forming businesses with multiple owners. Marriage licenses were issued to merge two or more estates, or parts thereof, together. Charters of incorporation were then issued to make this new business a separate legal entity, or fictional person, from the owners or investors of the business. The result was a corporation that could enter into contracts and carry out business independently of its owners or shareholders.

Upon incorporation, businesses or municipalities could be directly taxed just like any other person or estate. This allowed the town to raise its own revenue for its own use, separate from the revenue raised by the king or Parliament for use by the royal household or the country as a whole.

The ability to collect taxes, along with incorporation, allowed a town to contract with tradesmen to establish and improve the infrastructure of the town. This allowed the town’s government to hire people to put in public latrines, dig cesspits and wells, install sewers and water pipelines, build and maintain roads, erect and maintain municipal buildings, remove trash and the dead from streets, and to carry out other functions as needed.

The use of municipal laws allowed a town council to regulate trades and establish services. A council could establish and maintain specific zones for trades (such as bakers, smiths, and butchers) to carry out their business. A council could also establish specific zones for hospitals, cemeteries, parks and housing. Councils could also enact laws to regulate the actions of individuals.

Once public and private latrines were built, a lot of trash went into them. Bones, bottles, broken plates and cups, dead animals, any other trash that could not be burned tended to wind up in cesspits. A few thousand people disposing of their trash this way, over several square miles of a village, is not too bad; but when a city reached several thousand people in population, latrines acting as trash pits started to cause problems. Water became fouled and undrinkable. Cholera, dysentery, and other diseases resulted from water contaminated by E. coli and other bacteria. The stench from decomposing waste became unbearable. The water supply in cities was so bad that people had to drink wine, beer, or milk instead of water.

In 1518, manual water pumps are used to fight fires in Augsburg, Germany.

In 1580, the first newspapers were published in Frankfurt and Leipzig, Germany.

In 1592, the remains of the city of Pompeii were discovered by the architect Domenico Fontana, while digging an underground aqueduct to the mills of Torre Annunziata. However, he kept the finding secret.

In 1596, the flush toilet was invented by Sir John Harington. Harington installed a toilet in his home in Kelston, Somerset. The design had a flush valve to let water out of a tank, and a wash-down design to empty the bowl. He installed a similar toilet for his godmother, Queen Elizabeth I, at Richmond Palace.

In 1605, hackney coach service for hire was started in London, reducing the need for private ownership of horses and coaches.

In 1620, English businessmen began to use royal charters of incorporation to finance and establish permanent colonies in America.

Between 1623 and 1715, the Versailles Palace was built 10 miles outside of Paris. While the palace’s outhouses might have been very fancy, the palace was so large that most people could not get to an outhouse in time. The French royal family and their guests usually found some unused section of the palace to use as a privy, and place staff would clean up the mess afterwards.

By the 1650’s, townhouses were being built in the North American colonies. Houses based on the townhouse design would continue to be built well into the 20th Century. The major difference with the American townhouse was that all of the exterior walls were made of brick or stone, with brownstone being the preferred material for construction in New York City and much of New England.

From 2 to 6 September 1666, the Great London Fire ravaged the city, destroying over 75% of the urban area north of the Thames River. The fire started in the bakers’ quarter of the city. Thousands of buildings, some dating back to Roman times, were destroyed; over 1600 years of history was lost. But the fire allowed London to rebuild with modern buildings, wider streets, water pipes and sewers. Modern London is built upon the ashes of the Great Fire.

Following the Great London Fire, insurance companies are formed to finance the first fire fighting brigades in London.

Fires are a common form of disaster. Most cities and towns have experienced one or more large fires. They remain a major concern because most buildings and homes are still made of wood. Once going, there was little to stop fires from spreading from structure to another. Fires can wipe out a town in a matter of hours or days; but they also allow for urban renewal, especially in areas that have suffered from urban blight and neglect.

In 1672, Jan van der Heyden invents the fire hose in Amsterdam.

In 1677, the first public well was dug in Bowling Green, New Amsterdam. Until the eighteenth century, New York City depended on rainwater reservoirs and wells to collect water for daily use.

Starting in 1680, sections of the Fleet, Walbrook and other rivers in London were covered and converted into brick sewers. Other sections of these rivers were converted into canals so that barges could use them to move goods and transport people across England.

In November 1682, William Penn establishes the plan by which the City of Philadelphia would be built. It is the first city to be organized on a gridiron plan.

In 1688, the fire engine is invented by John Lofting in London.

In 1693, Giuseppe Macrini began excavating Pompeii.

On 25 October 1701, the City of Philadelphia is incorporated under a royal charter.

On 11 March 1702, the first successful English daily newspaper, The Daily Courant, was published by Elizabeth Mallet at her premises next to the King's Arms tavern at Fleet Bridge in London. Fleet Street remains the heart of London’s journalism district.

On 24 April 1704, The Boston News-Letter, the first continuously published newspaper in the colonies, began publication. Soon after, weekly papers began publishing in New York and Philadelphia.

In 1736, Benjamin Franklin organizes the Union Fire Company in Philadelphia.

In 1738, Herculaneum was rediscovered by workers digging for the foundations of a summer palace for the King of Naples, Charles of Bourbon.

In 1752, Benjamin Franklin invented the pointed lightning rod conductor, preventing lightning from catching houses and buildings on fire.

In 1755, the refrigerator was invented by William Cullen.

In 1775, Scottish mechanic Alexander Cumming improved the flush toilet with the invention of the S-trap that prevented the escape of sewer gas into a house by the use of standing water to seal the outlet of the bowl. Other improvements to the flushing toilet soon followed.

Water closets, indoor privies that used flush toilets, began to be used in the home of wealthy citizens of London. The introduction of the flush toilet resulted in individual residences being connected to London’s water lines and the digging of cesspits in the wealthier sections of London. The use of water closets soon led to the use of indoor bathtubs with running water and drains.

Flush toilets are introduced in New York City, Philadelphia, and Boston by the British Army.

In 1776, as the population of New York City grew to 22,000, the first reservoir was built on the East Side of Manhattan.

On 20 September, a fire engulfs lower Manhattan as the Continental Army is evacuating New York City. Both the British and American armies are accused of setting the fire, as well as arsonists and other non-combatants. No one knows where the fire originated, and it could have had several points of origin. Many buildings damaged or destroyed during the battles fought in Manhattan added fuel to the conflagration, resulting in the destruction of 25% of the city.

In 1777, England issues a patent for a "plunger closet" to Samuel Prosser.

In 1780, coal gas began to be used to provide light in homes in Newcastle, England.

In 1795, Benjamin Thompson, Count Rumford, invented the Rumford fireplace and the cooking stove. Thompson’s inventions resulted in the modern indoor kitchen, allowing for the efficient use of heat for cooking and baking. The Rumford stove used wood or coal as its fuel source.

By 1800, following the independence of the United States, the cities of the United States began to see the influx of immigrants from Europe. Tenement homes and apartments were quickly constructed to accommodate the new arrivals. Tenement homes often forced 30 or more people to share one latrine.

New immigrants tend to live in poorer neighborhoods, usually due to local zoning laws. Immigrants tend to live packed closely together, often with two or three families sharing one small apartment. This results in communities of migrants within large cities in which the new arrivals can continue to preserve their cultural heritage after coming to America. Enclaves slows the process of assimilation of immigrants into American culture, but they also allow large cities to develop a more diverse and complex society in which the various cultures clash and intermix.

While new immigrants are often discriminated against, the communities and enclaves that they create add color, charm, and depth to the urban environment. This results in major cities being places of innovation. Cities become artistic and educational centers because of the intermingling of multiple cultures and ideas.

In 1802, the icebox was invented by Thomas Moore, an American farmer and cabinetmaker. Until then, kitchens had problems with food storage. People used various means to prevent food from spoiling. This included making butter and cheese from milk; salting, smoking, and jerking meats; preserving food using salt, sugar, vinegar and alcohol; and canning and tinning foods for long term storage. Some methods of preserving foods worked better than others. The use of an icebox allowed for longer storage of food without spoilage or the need of preservatives. The availability of more fresh food improved people’s diets.

By 1820, most of Newcastle, England, was connected to gasworks supplying towngas for lighting and heating. The use of coal gas is quickly adopted by other towns and cities in Europe and North America.

In 1823, the first omnibus mass-transport service started between Nantes and Richebourg, France, by Stanislas Baudry.

In 1824, an omnibus service started in Manchester, England.

In 1826, an omnibus service started in Newark, New Jersey.

In April 1828, an omnibus service started in Paris.

In 1829, the first steam locomotive, the Rocket, was invented in England. In London, the an omnibus service started.

On 29 September, the Metropolitan Police Service was established in London. While city guards and night watchmen had served as police forces since the Middle Ages, they chiefly served to prevent riots, arrest thieves and outlaws, kept the peace, and watched for fires. Royal, nobel, and wealthy individuals had private guards to protect them when in a town. The Metropolitan Police Force was the first to actually investigate and solve crimes, and to arrest those who committed criminal acts. Other cities quickly adopted their own professional police forces.

In 1831, a major cholera epidemic struck London, claiming 6,536 victims.

In 1832, streetcar lines, omnibuses set on rails that were set in the city streets, started operations in New York City.

On 22 April 1833, a mechanical, steam powered omnibus appeared on the streets of London.

In 1834, streetcars began operations in New Orleans.

The hansom cab was designed and patented by Joseph Hansom in England. The hansom cab soon replaced hackney carriages.

Between 1837 and 1842, New York City's Old Croton Aqueduct was built to divert water from the Croton River in Westchester County to Manhattan, a distance of 41 miles. The aqueduct was supported by the Old Croton Dam. The aqueduct's capacity was around 90 million gallons per day. The aqueduct would continue to supply water to the city until 1955, and was finally closed in 1965.

Homes of wealthy residents of New York City were connected to the city’s water mains, allowing these houses to install water closets and flush toilets.

In 1837, the telegraph was invented by Samuel Morris.

Horace Mann introduced a public school system in Massachusetts, which required compulsory education of all children from first through sixth grades. Children were required to attend school for six hours a day, six days a week. Compulsory education was quickly adopted by other states. After World War I, compulsory education was seen as a national security issue, and the federal government started setting minimum guidelines for public education, the number of hours of daily class time, and when children could be exempted from compulsory education.

On 4 March, the City of Chicago is incorporated. The elevation of Chicago was little higher than the shoreline of Lake Michigan. For two decades following the city's incorporation, drainage from the city surface was inadequate, resulting in large bodies of standing and pathogenic water.

In 1840, ice boxes started to become commercially available.

On 24 May 1844, the first telegraph system began operation between Washington, DC, and Baltimore, Maryland. This system initiated the use of high speed, electrical communications around the world.

Between 1846 and 1860, a worldwide cholera pandemic hit major urban centers. The pandemic is blamed on bad air, and is referred to as a “miasma”.

In 1846, the first municipal sanitary commissions, for the removal of solid waste and trash, began operation in London.

In 1848, a second major outbreak of cholera occurred in London; 14,137 residents died. During this outbreak, Dr. John Snow noticed that the rates of death were higher in areas supplied by the Lambeth, and the Southwark & Vauxhall water companies. Dr. Snow used maps to trace the spread of the epidemic.

From 1848 to 1854, numerous epidemics, including typhoid fever and dysentery, hit Chicago.

In 1849, Dr. Snow published a paper, On the Mode of Communication of Cholera, in which he argued that cholera was transmitted by contaminated water instead of bad air.

A major cholera outbreak hits New York City, resulting in the construction of a sewer system for the city. Seventy miles of sewers would be installed by 1854, and the system would continue to expand over the rest of the century. The raw sewer emptied into the Hudson and East Rivers, and New York Harbor.

Streetcars began operations in Toronto, Canada.

From 3 to 4 May 1851, San Francisco suffered a major fire which destroyed 75% of the city. San Francisco had seen rapid growth since 1849 due to the California gold rush. Large portions of the city was built on land reclaimed from the San Francisco Bay. Many structures were made from ships that were left to rot in the bay when their crews left them to go to the gold fields

The result of the 1851 fire was that San Francisco installed a modern water and sewer system, as well as a fire department with steam powered water pumps, with which to fight fires. San Francisco was as well prepared as any city could be to fight a large fire.

In 1852, J. G. Jennings patented a washout closet that had a shallow basin with a dished tray and water seal. The flush water drove the contents into the pan and then through the S-trap.

Between 1853 and 1854, a third major outbreak of cholera occurred in London, in which 10,738 died. Dr. Snow published an update to his paper on the water-borne transmission of cholera, after he focused on the effects of the epidemic in Broad Street, Soho. Snow removed the handle from the local water pump, preventing access to contaminated water, which resulted in a reduction of deaths. It was found that a leaking sewer ran near the well from which the water was drawn.

In 1853, Francois Coignet is the first to use iron-reinforced concrete for constructing buildings, while building a four-story house outside of Paris.

On 1 April, the first professional fire fighting department is started in Cincinnati, Ohio. They are the first group of firefighters to use steam fire engines.

In 1854, an outbreak of cholera hits Chicago, killing 6% of the city’s population.

By 1855, there were 415 streetcar companies in the U.S., operating over 6,000 miles of track and carrying 188 million passengers per year.

By 1856, London had over 200,000 cesspits and 360 sewers. Cesspits leaked methane and other gases, which often caught fire and exploded. Many of London’s sewers were in a poor state of repair.

In 1856, in Chicago, engineer Ellis Chesbrough drafted a plan for the installation of a citywide sewer system and submitted it to the Common Council. The plan required the city to be raised to a new grade 6’ 2” higher than the old one, and changing the flow of the Chicago River.

A practical refrigerator is invented by James Harrison. His refrigerator is quickly put to use by meat packing plants.

By 1857, the Thames River was effectively an open sewer from London to the sea. The smell from the river was so bad that the government began pouring chalk lime, chloride of lime, and carbolic acid into the river to ease the stench.

In 1857, Joseph Gayetty invented modern, commercially available toilet paper in the U.S. Gayetty's Medicated Paper was sold in packages of flat sheets, water-marked with the inventor's name. Original advertisements for the product used the tagline "The greatest necessity of the age! Gayetty's medicated paper for the water-closet".

The E. V. Haughwout Building, a five-story, 79-foot-tall commercial building was built in Manhattan. The building was designed by John P. Gaynor, with cast-iron facades for two street-fronts provided by Daniel D. Badger's Architectural Iron Works. It housed Eder V. Haughwout's Fashionable Emporium, which sold imported cut glass and silverware as well as its own hand-painted china and fine chandeliers. It attracted many wealthy clients. Elisha Otis introduced the safety elevator, the world's first successful passenger elevator, allowing convenient and safe transport to the building’s upper floors.

The centers of major cities had become so crowded with people and businesses, that there was no land remaining to place more buildings or houses on. The only way to build was up instead of out. So buildings with multiple stories began to be built in cities, first of wood and then of iron. But both materials could support only a limited amount of weight before the beams cracked or broke.

On 9 January, an estimated 8.3 earthquake struck the San Andreas Fault near Fort Tejon, California. The population in the area was so small that there are few reports of the earthquake, though it was strongly felt in Los Angeles. Earthquakes are a frequent occurrence throughout California because of the San Andreas Fault and related fault and volcanic systems.

In 1858, coaxial cable is invented and is used for the transatlantic telegraph cable.

London began replacing its wooden and clay water pipes with iron water pipes. This, combined with the increasing use of flushing toilets and the rising of the city's population to three million, led to more water being flushed into the sewers, along with the associated effluent. The outfalls from slaughterhouses, factories, and other industrial activities put further strain on an already failing sewer system. Much of this outflow either overflowed, or discharged directly into the Thames River.

In January 1858, the first masonry building in Chicago was lifted on two hundred jackscrews to its new city grade. It was the first of more than fifty comparably large masonry buildings to be raised that year. As the building were lifted to the new grade, workers laid drains, covered roads and sidewalks with several feet of soil and refinished them. Many of Chicago’s wooden buildings were considered not worth raising, so the owners of those buildings had them demolished or placed on rollers and moved to the outskirts of Chicago. Business in these buildings continued as they were being moved.

By mid-1858, the problems with the Thames that had been building for many hundred years, reached a crisis.

In June, a heatwave hit England, causing the temperatures in London to reach 118°F. Combined with a drought, the level of the Thames dropped and raw effluent from the sewers remained on the banks of the river. The smell from the river was so terrible that the press soon began calling the event "The Great Stink".

The stench from the river was so bad that business in Parliament was affected, and the curtains on the river side of the building were soaked in lime chloride to overcome the smell. The measure was not successful, and discussions were held about possibly moving the business of government to Oxford or St Albans.

The disruption to its legislative work led to questions being raised in the House of Commons. MPs were unable to use either the Committee Rooms or the Library because of the stench, and a bill was introduced to improve London’s sewer system and clean the Thames River.

On 2 August, Parliament passed an bill to improve the sewer system of London and to clean up the Thames River.

Between 1859 and 1865, London started to install a modern system of intercepting sewers and diverting local streams to flush out the sewer system whenever there was a heavy rain.

On 10 January 1863, the Metropolitan Railway, the world's first passenger-carrying, steam powered underground railway began operation in London.

In 1864, New York City began installing water towers to help bring water to buildings built on higher elevations of the city. Steam engines power pumps to fill the water towers, allowing gravity to send the water out through water mains. With the introduction of buildings more than six stories tall, water towers using steam pumps ensured water was supplied to every floor.

Oriel Chambers, a five story building, was built in Liverpool, England. The building used a steel frame with glass curtain walls and decorative stone mullions, instead of stone or brick. Otherwise the walls on the lower floors on a tall building would be too thick to be practical. The glass walls allowed sunlight to penetrate deep into the building, reducing the need for gas lighting or oil lamps.

In 1868, Alford Ely Beach received a charter from New York for the Beach Pneumatic Transit system in New York City.

In 1870, the first skyscraper, the Equitable Life Assurance Building, headquarters of Equitable Life Assurance Society of the United States, was built in Manhattan. The building was made of brick, granite, and iron, and was built with seven above-ground stories and two basement levels, with a height of 130 feet.

From 19 July 1870 to 28 January 1871, the Franco-Prussian War, the last major war in Europe prior to World War I, brought destruction to several major cities in northern Europe, including Paris.

Prior to the invention of dynamite and other high explosives, wars seldom had a major impact on the infrastructure of major cities. The use of high explosives changed that, and wars became as destructive as natural disasters.

On 29 July 1870, the first sheet of asphalt, or tarmac, pavement, invented by Edward Joseph de Smedt of Columbia University, was laid down on William Street in Newark, New Jersey.

1871 was a dry year in the Northwest. The forests and grasslands along Lake Michigan were very dry, almost like kindling. By the middle of fall conditions were ripe for a major fire event in the upper Mississippi Valley.

On 8 October, fires broke out in Peshtigo, Wisconsin; Holland, Manistee, and Port Huron, Michigan; and Chicago, Illinois.

The Peshtigo fire killed 2,500 people and consumed 1.5 million acres of forest and grassland. It is the deadliest fire in U.S. history. It is largely forgotten because of the Great Chicago Fire that occurred at the same time. 

The Great Chicago Fire started southwest of the city center, leapt the south branch of the Chicago River and consumed much of central Chicago, before continuing into the north side of the city. The fire continued to rage until 10 October, killing 300 people. It destroyed more than three square miles of the city, including 17,000 structures, and leaving more than 100,000 residents homeless.

The old, wooden buildings that had been moved to the outskirts of the city in 1858, were in the middle of the urban environment that had grown up around them as the city’s population grew. These buildings, along with wooden sidewalks and roads, and the severe drought, contributed to the disaster. Once the fire started, it quickly jumped to areas where there were warehouses, coal yards, lumber yards, barges and tanker cars filled with kerosene, wooden bridges, and the city’s gas- and waterworks.

The Great Chicago Fire led to better urban development and building techniques throughout the United States. Building codes and zoning laws started to become commonly used to reduce the risk of fire in urban environments.

On 9 October, fires consumed Urbana, Illinois.

On 12 October, Windsor, Ontario, burnt down.

On 2 August 1873, the San Francisco cable car system began operation.

In 1874, the sewer vent was invented, preventing sewer gasses making their way into people’s homes.

In 1876, the first reinforced concrete building, Ward’s Castle in Rye Brook, New York, was built by William Ward.

On 14 February, Alexander Graham Bell was the first to file a patent for a telephone, beating out several competitors.

In 1877, the first telephone system was established between Boston and Somerville, Massachusetts. Other telephone systems are quickly established.

In 1878, the ice cooled refrigerated railcar (reefer) is invented by Andrew Chase, allowing for fresh meat and produce to be safely shipped across the United States.

On 4 September 1882, the Edison Illuminating Company started providing Direct Current electricity in New York City to .

In 1883, Seth Wheeler of Albany, New York, obtained the earliest U.S. patents for toilet paper and dispensers.

Steam tramways began to be used in London.

In 1884, the ten-story Home Insurance Building in Chicago was built. It was designed by William Le Baron Jenney, and was the first building by the Chicago School architectural movement, which developed the Commercial Style. When first built, the Home Insurance Building was record setting.

In 1885, an expansion of the Equitable Life Assurance Building in Manhattan, brought the total height of the building to 155 feet and nine stories. The building featured the first commercial passenger elevator that was installed by Elisha Otis.

Iron beams were used to make the first skyscrapers in New York, but iron could not support the of weight a very tall building without cracking. To erect buildings higher than ten stories steel beams were required. Buildings taller than 10 stories had to wait until high quality steel could be manufactured in sufficient quantity. Without high quality steel, there would be no skyscrapers, and the entire concept of urban planning would have developed along different lines.

New York City started construction of the New Croton Aqueduct to meet the city's growing water needs.

Thomas Twyford, a preeminent English potter, revolutionized the water closet when he built the first trapless toilet in a one-piece, all china design.

In March 1886, George Westinghouse and William Stanley Jr., installed the first multiple-voltage Alternating Current power system, in Great Barrington, Massachusetts. Westinghouse’s AC power system would beat out Thomas Edison’s DC system as the standard for the U.S.

On 15 April 1886, Montgomery, Alabama, established its electric streetcar system nicknamed the Lightning Route.

In 1889, Ernest L. Ransome built the Alvord Lake Bridge, the first reinforced concrete bridge in the U.S.

On 31 May, after several days of heavy rain, the South Fork Dam on the Little Conemaugh River, 14 miles upstream of Johnstown, Pennsylvania, suffered a catastrophic failure, unleashing a torrent of water that equaled the flow rate of the Mississippi River. The flood killed 2,200 people and nearly wiped Johnstown off the map.

The South Fork Dam and Reservoir were privately owned and maintained by a social and hunting club for wealthy patrons from Pittsburgh and Philadelphia. American law at the time was a fault-based regime for damage suits. Almost everyone who suffered damages from the flood were unable to recover damages or be compensated for the loss of their loved ones. This led to changes in the law from a fault-based regime to one of strict liability. The Johnstown Flood resulted in state and federal laws requiring better construction and regular inspections of dams and reservoirs, as well as better placement of dams on rivers.

Flooding has always been one of the most destructive forces to major cities, and are common occurrences even today. Flooding usually occurres as a result of snowmelt in basins feeding the river that a city is built next to. But flooding can also result from heavy rainfall and/or coastal flooding due to storms. Dam failures are less common, but levee failures are a frequent cause of flooding, especially during high water events.

In 1890, the New Croton Aqueduct opened for operation with a capacity of 300 million gallons of water per day. Indoor toilets become the norm in New York City as most residences are connected to the city’s water mains.

The Scott Paper Company began marketing toilet paper dispensed from rolls.

In 1891, two additional floors were added to the Home Insurance Building in Chicago, bringing its finished height to 180 feet. It was the first tall building to be supported both inside and outside by a fireproof structural steel frame and reinforced concrete. It was demolished in 1931.

In 1894, the electric refrigerator is invented by Istvan Rock.

In 1895, two passenger bus lines ran in Siegerland, Germany.

In 1897, the first practical subway line in the U.S. began operation in Boston.

In June, the Daimler Victoria, the world's first motorized-powered taximeter-cab, began operating in Stuttgart, Germany.

On 23 April 1898, double-decker buses were first used on the streets of London by the Motor Traction Company.

By 1900, nearly every city in the U.S. had a public transportation system, covering at least the city business district. Many light rail systems connected cities to their suburbs, others connected two or more closely spaced cities. 

The Paris Metro opened.

On 9 September, a Category 4 hurricane struck Galveston, Texas, destroying the town by winds and flooding, and killing 12,000 people. Galveston Island sits only six feet above sea level, making it prone to flooding during a storm surge. The hurricane had a storm surge of 18’, resulting in 12’ of water in Galveston. 

At the start of the Texas oil boom, Galveston had become a major oil port. The storm caused investors in Galveston to move to Houston instead. Houston became a major city, and Galveston ended up as a quiet beach town. 

In 1901, New York passes the Tenement Act, which required the inclusion of at least one water closet in each tenement unit, although it took several decades for all families to reap the benefits of this landmark legislation.

On 25 February, United States Steel Company was founded by J. P. Morgan. Steel beams made by the company allowed for the widespread development of the skyscraper in all of the major cities in the U.S.

By 1902, most of New York City had sewage service, including a large percentage of tenement houses.

In 1904, the first skyscraper made with reinforced concrete, the 16-story Ingalls Building in Cincinnati, Ohio, was built.

On 27 October, the New York City subway began operation.

In 1906, The New Croton Dam was added to the New Croton Aqueduct.

On 18 April, at 5:12 in the morning, the California coast was struck by a magnitude 8.3 earthquake that was felt from Eureka, in Northern California, to Los Angeles, in Southern California, and as far east as Salt Lake City, Utah. The earthquake devastated San Francisco, then the ninth largest city in the U.S., and caused major damage throughout the San Francisco Bay area.

Displacement on the San Andreas Fault, which runs from Mexico to Cape Mendocino, was as much as 28 feet. The earthquake broke gas lines, and fires soon broke out across the city. The fires could not be put out because the city's water mains were broken by the earthquake. The fires lasted several days; over 80% of the city was destroyed, more than 3,000 people were killed, over 300,000 people were left homeless. It was the deadliest earthquake in U.S. history, and the greatest loss of life from a natural disaster in California history.

At the time of the earthquake, San Francisco was the financial, trade, and cultural center of the Western United States, and the busiest port on the Pacific coast. The earthquake diverted business to Los Angeles and Seattle, establishing both as major cities. Over time, Los Angeles became the second largest metropolitan area in the United States, and the most important urban area in the Western U.S.

Rebuilding and reconstruction plans were quickly put into place. Most buildings were rebuilt with stone, brick or concrete. The first skyscrapers in San Francisco were erected. Building codes were adopted to ensure that construction methods were employed to better withstand earthquakes and fires.

In 1907, the Roland Park Shopping Center is opened in Baltimore. While shopping arcades have been known since Roman times, Roland Park is the first suburban shopping center of any size.

In 1908, the Model T Ford was introduced by the Ford Motor Company, allowing the average American an automobile at a reasonable cost. With the introduction of the automobile as the main source of transportation, cities quickly eliminated private ownership of horses within city limits, except those used by commercial enterprises. Livery stables quickly converted to gas stations and garages.

With the automobile came the stop sign, traffic lights, parking spaces, parking meters, and divided roadways. Houses started to be built with garages and driveways.

Construction of the New York City parkways began.

In 1913, the first electric refrigerators for home and domestic use were invented and produced by Fred W. Wolf.

Between 28 July 1914 to 11 November 1918, the First World War results in the destruction of several major cities across Europe, resulting in the deaths of countless people and several $ billions worth of property damages. The increase in the use of high explosives, longer ranged guns, airplanes and airships to attack cities, and the use of mechanized forces results in warfare that not only kills people, but utterly destroys cities and towns.

By 1915, reconstruction from the San Francisco earthquake was largely completed, in time for the Panama-Pacific International Exposition. 

In 1916, construction on the U.S. interstate highway system began.

From 1918 to 1920, the Spanish Flu pandemic strikes, killing millions of people around the world. Cities and towns throughout the U.S. build hospitals to care for the sick. Cities in act laws to prevent the spread of the disease.

In 1920, the practice of “redlining”, in which financial services are withheld from majority-minority sections of a city, begins in the sales practices of the National Association of Real Estate Boards and theories about race and property values by economist Richard T. Ely and his Institute for Research in Land Economics and Public Utilities.

Vibrant minority enclaves become urban slums due to racist redlining. Slums are the result of local officials refusing to invest in minority neighborhoods. Slums suffer the most during disasters, and are more likely to suffer from crime, vermin, and pollution. Redlining decreases the value of land and buildings.

When property values drop, a slum might be gentrified by the instillation of new infrastructure, businesses, housing, and the demolition of dangerous properties. A former slum will become the new, fashionable district for wealthy, usually White, residents to move into. This results in blighted areas being renewed, but forces minority residents to relocate to other parts of the city.

In 1921, continuously reinforced concrete pavement is first used for roads in Pittsburg, California.

By 1930, the electric refrigerator is in widespread use in the U.S.

On 10 March 1933, Long Beach, California, was struck by a magnitude 6.4 earthquake that caused widespread damage in the Los Angeles metropolitan area. The earthquake led to the adoption of stronger building codes in California, and helped establish universal building codes for the rest of the United States.

In 1936, cable television systems are installed in London and Berlin.

From 1 September 1939 to 2 September 1945, the Second World War results in the destruction of several major cities around the world, resulting in the deaths of countless people and several $ trillions worth of property damages. The war sees the use of concentration and death camps by Germany, in which more that six million Jews, Roma, and other people are killed; the firebombing of cities; the use of terror against civilian populations; and other unconventional tactics that kill millions of people.

On 6 and 9 August 1945, the U.S. dropped atomic bombs on Hiroshima and Nagasaki, Japan, killing several hundred of thousands of people in both cities and several $ billions in property damage. The atomic age gives humans the power to destroy entire cities with a single bomb, and to wipe out all life on Earth.

In the spring of 1948, the first cable television system in the U.S. was created in Mahanoy City, Pennsylvania, by John Walson to provide television signals to people whose reception was poor because of tall mountains and buildings.

On 21 July 1952, a magnitude 7.3 earthquake struck Bakersfield, California, killing 12 people and causing extensive damage.

On 22 August, a magnitude 6.3 earthquake struck Tehachapi, California, killing two more people in Bakersfield and causing more damage in the region.

In 1954, fiber optic cable is invented.

Valley Fair Mall, the first enclosed shopping mall, is opened in Appleton, Wisconsin.

In June 1956, construction began on the U.S. interstate highway system. These highways, known as “freeways” consist of high-speed, divided roadways, with for four or more lanes, and no at-grade crossings.

On 27 March 1964, a magnitude 9.2 earthquake, one of the strongest on record, struck Anchorage, Alaska, killing 131 people and causing extensive damage.

Between 1966 and 2020, Los Angeles experienced several riots that resulted in loss of several lives, major fires and property damage. During this period, several other major cities in the U.S., including New York City, Philadelphia, Pittsburg, Detroit, and Chicago, experienced civil unrest and rioting resulting in many deaths, property damage, and major fires.

On 17 August 1969, Hurricane Camille hit Bay St. Louis, Mississippi, as a Category 5 storm. The storm traveled up the Mississippi Valley killing 260 people, and $1.5 billion in property damage.

On 9 February 1971, a magnitude 6.5 earthquake struck the San Fernando Valley near Los Angeles, resulting in the deaths of 65 people and causing over $500 million in property damage.

In April 1977, fiber optic cable systems are first installed in Chicago.

On 18 May 1980, Mt. St. Helens suffered a catastrophic eruption that reduced the height of the mountain by 1,300 feet, and left a crater an additional 2,100 feet deep and 1 to 2 miles wide, with its north end open in a huge breach. The eruption, occurring in a rural area of southwest Washington, north of Portland, Oregon, resulted in 64 deaths and $1.1 billion in property damage. Though no major cities were directly impacted by the eruption, Yakima and Spokane, Washington, were impacted by several feet of volcanic ash. The eruption produced the largest recorded landslide on record.

On 17 October 1989, the Loma Prieta Earthquake struck California from Santa Cruz to San Francisco and Oakland. The magnitude 6.9 earthquake resulted in the deaths of 63 people and property damage of $6 billion.

On 17 January 1994, a magnitude 6.7 earthquake struck Northridge, California, just outside of Los Angeles, resulting in the deaths of 61 people and $20 billion in property damage.

On 19 April 1995, anti-government extremists Timothy McVeigh and Terry Nichols, carry out a bombing of the Alfred P. Murrah Federal Building in Oklahoma City, Oklahoma. It is the largest domestic act of terrorism in the U.S., and it resulted in the deaths of 168 people, many of them children, and property damage of $650 million.

Terrorism usually causes minimal damage and few deaths within a city. But with internet access to instructions on how to make better bombs, or creative means to carry out terrorist attacks, terrorism begins to have a greater impact on cities. A bomb can destroy an entire building, and other methods of causing even greater destruction are soon carried out in terror attacks in other cities.

On 11 September 2001, two jetliners full of people are deliberately crashed into the Twin Towers of the World Trade Center in lower Manhattan. Another jetliner crashes into the Pentagon in Virginia. A fourth jetliner crashed at Stonycreek Township, Pennsylvania, before it can hit one of the government buildings in Washington, DC. The terrorist attack killed 3,000 people, caused major destruction to the financial district of lower Manhattan, and resulted in more than $10 billion in property damage.

On 29 August 2005, Hurricane Katrina hit New Orleans and Bay St. Louis, Mississippi as a category 3 storm. New Orleans was severely damaged by the storm. Katrina caused 1,500 deaths and over $125 billion in property damage.

On 6 August 2024, a magnitude 5.2 earthquake struck Bakersfield, California. Even though Bakersfield had grown from a population of 84,500 in 1952, to 413,000, the earthquake resulted in no loss of life or significant property damage.

As building codes improved, and older building were torn down or brought up to the new standards, earthquakes have had less impact on city infrastructure, fewer deaths and less property damage, even as local populations increased.

In September and October 2024, Hurricanes Helene and Milton struck Florida, with Helene continuing into the Carolinas, Georgia, and Tennessee, while Milton continued out into the Atlantic Ocean. The two storms resulted in over 300 deaths and several billions dollars in property damage.

Urban planning is the result of lessons learned from past disasters and the attempt to lessen the impact of the next one. The result of any disaster is the upgrading and replacement of emergency and rescue equipment, better training for emergency responders, and better communications by city officials. But we always prepare for the last disaster; all of our lessons are learned in response to the last disaster, which is why we are never quite prepared for the next big one.