Historians have noted that perhaps because it was a principal port of entry, Philadelphia was widely copied by later American towns, as the settlement of the country moved farther to the west. Thus, most colonial towns, including Salisbury, took on a basic grid-iron or trellis street pattern.
In Salisbury's case, this resulted in a series of streets running in a southwest to northeast direction, parallel to Town Creek, and another series of streets running southeast to northwest, perpendicular to the alignment of the creek. This layout created city blocks that were feet long and feet deep. Eventually this same basic street pattern would be extended out uninterrupted for five to ten blocks in all directions from the main intersection at the center of the square.
Within the grid-iron framework, a very compact town evolved. As Carter had envisioned, the major civic, cultural, and trading buildings of the day were built within a very short distance of the main intersection. A mixture of businesses and homes filled in the voids and spilled out a few short blocks away from the town center.
Homes were large and lots small to keep walking distances to a minimum. Servants quarters and smaller houses for the underclass were also kept close, given the need to walk virtually everywhere. During the period from about to , numerous economic, social, and technological changes of the industrial revolution would take America, and to a lesser extent, Salisbury, by storm. Railroad lines, which totaled 23 miles nationwide in , increased to 2, miles by The telegraph and the telephone revolutionized the speed at which information could be transferred.
The invention of the passenger elevator and the Bessemer steel converter paved the way for the development of skyscrapers beginning in the s. Gas lights and, later, electric lights , revolutionized indoor lighting, and made the fire hazards of congested buildings less threatening. Salisbury was by no means isolated from these revolutionary technological advances. The rail line, which paralleled Main Street just two blocks down the hill toward Town Creek, established the southeastern border of the central business district.
Before long, a number of commercial and industrial enterprises sprang up along the rail line. At the same time, smoke and ash blown by prevailing winds from the north and west made areas to the south and east of the city center "the wrong side of the tracks. This early pattern continues to this day.
As America was nearing the turn of the century, the influence of rail on Salisbury was to become even more pronounced. The Southern Railway Company selected a site just to the northeast of Salisbury for a large steam locomotive repair and maintenance facility. The Spencer Shops opened in , and the Town of Spencer was officially incorporated in Thus, the northeastern boundary of Salisbury was fixed and an even greater impetus for expansion of the city to the north and west was set in motion.
By , train traffic through Salisbury was at an all-time high, electric lights were in common use throughout much of the city, telephone lines crisscrossed the community, and a municipal waterworks was in use. Even so, these technological advances had their downsides in many cities. When coupled with the enormous demand for labor to drive the machinery of the industrial revolution, overwhelming pressure existed to pack more people into less housing. After , in fact, housing in large cities became congested to the point of plainly unhealthy conditions.
By , crowding in New York City tenement houses caused a city-wide equivalent density of persons per acre compare this with one family on a half-acre lot today. Thank you for the honest review Leanne B. She saved us a lot of time and money. Salisbury is off our bucket list. Wonderful old houses, though. Those charming Try Now. All rights reserved. BestPlaces Mobile App. Amtrak travels to Salisbury and will drop you right in the heart of downtown. Downtown Salisbury, Inc.
One-of-a-kind cafes, bistros, pizzerias, and several fine dining options; there's something to fit every taste, budget, and palate here. Discover more with our ENewsletter. North Carolina Transportation Museum.
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