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Eastern Great Lakes: Indiana, Michigan, Ohio

ufacturing and transportation, than by farming. Young people were a large part of the shift. Thousands left rural farms for jobs in the cities. By 1920, more Indianans lived in urban areas than rural areas. Railroads were a large contributor to the growth of cities and the whole state. Indianapolis emerged as the center of the state’s economy. Railroad tracks protruded from the city in every direc- tion, like spokes on a wheel. Yet city industries had strong ties to farms. Most goods of the late nine- teenth and early twentieth centuries came from agricultural products. Milled grain was Indiana’s top product from 1850 to the end of the century. Timber industries were large. Factories made raw lumber and built carriages, wagons, and furniture. Meatpacking—especially of Indiana- raised pork—and farm equipment manufacturing also gave city business a country foundation. During World War I, Indiana saw a surge in heavy industries. Iron, steel, glass, electrical equipment, railroad cars, and automobiles filed out of

Indiana’s network of railroads helps to move farm products and manufactured goods all over the nation, boosting the state’s economy.

Following the Civil War, Indiana’s economy changed dramatically. By 1890, more Indianans made their liv- ings in urban industries, such as man-

Did You Know?

The first train robbery in the United States happened in Jackson County, Indiana. On October 6, 1866, the Reno Brothers gang stopped an Ohio and Mississippi Railroad train and stole over $10,000.