Questions about wild west towns.(Urgent help needed)

mad orc

Banned
In all media, wild west towns are shown as these little places with just a few buildings.
Like they just have 15 to 20 buildings at the most!!



My question is
Did wild west towns really had such low populations and were they this small?

If not, then what was their size?

A few more questions
What was the size or population of
1)An average american wild west town.
2)A small outpost in the wild west.
3)A pre civil war wild west town.
4)A border wild west Mexican town.
5)Los Angeles back when it was ruled by Spain or Mexico.


If someone can answer all these question then hats off to him.
I want to portray a realistic west. Please help me.
 
In all media, wild west towns are shown as these little places with just a few buildings.
Like they just have 15 to 20 buildings at the most!!

My question is
Did wild west towns really had such low populations and were they this small?

If not, then what was their size?

A few more questions
What was the size or population of
1)An average american wild west town.
2)A small outpost in the wild west.
3)A pre civil war wild west town.
4)A border wild west Mexican town.
5)Los Angeles back when it was ruled by Spain or Mexico.


If someone can answer all these question then hats off to him.
I want to portray a realistic west. Please help me.

I think an important thing to remember about frontier towns is that it would depend on why they're set up? Is the town on a stagecoach route/trainline? Is it for farming, mining or just a garrison town (not sure what the actual term for this is).

The reason why wild west towns may be portrayed as small could be because its essentially a farming community, ergo (and I grew up in a town that started like this in South Africa) its basically the main street, which has the supply store, post office, we had a PD but the west would probably have a sheriff's office with a jail, church, hotel/pub and a few houses for the people who DON'T work on the farms. There may be a few other buildings that I've forgotten, but most of the populace would probably live/work on the farms hence the sparse population/housing. Not to mention, it essentially developed around the pre-automobile equivalent of a filling station, so most traffic is probably just passing through, not necessarily looking to stay.

PS: This is just my opinion and I could be gravely mistaken. Seemed plausible in my head though
 

Vuu

Banned
Thing is, they are shown as small because even to this day, agricultural work is done on-site, basically you could say that everyone has a really, really huge yard to work

If you want them bigger, change the system to something like we have here in Europe (and I doubt it's all Europe) - all the houses are in the town itself, and people go to work the fields when the time is right. Would make the streets muddy because tractors, but at least there won't be so much isolation between neighbors
 

mad orc

Banned
I like your answers.
But umm........so what should I write it as?
How do I portray,say a small town in the middle of the wilderness but which is in a desert area like Arizona and has a railroad passing through?
 
I like your answers.
But umm........so what should I write it as?
How do I portray,say a small town in the middle of the wilderness but which is in a desert area like Arizona and has a railroad passing through?

If the railway is on an important line (as opposed to just a spur or even a siding) say Phoenix to San Diego for instance, then it could be a massive boost for the town due to trains (at least in South Africa) having to STOP at EVERY platform (be it station or siding). So if the train stops, then the station might expand to have all sorts of things (especially if the station serves as a depot point for a much larger area. I.e. the town where the station caters to say 5-10 neighbouring towns/villages/ranches as well,) which means that almost anything that comes into or leaves the area goes through ONE station. This can lead to things like Ye Olde Prospect Shoppe and the Five Gun Saloon opening up, because farmers/miners might have to go by train to the bigger centers to buy stuff (in SA its not unheard of in some farming towns for people to have to drive up to 2.5 hours just to buy 3 months groceries in one of the bigger centres simply because the local convenience store doesn't carry the products or its cheaper to buy in bulk) or do business (i.e. banks aren't necessarily going to have a branch in a one-horse town in the middle of nowhere so you might have to go to one of the larger towns in the event you need a loan/make a deposit etc).
 

mad orc

Banned
If the railway is on an important line (as opposed to just a spur or even a siding) say Phoenix to San Diego for instance, then it could be a massive boost for the town due to trains (at least in South Africa) having to STOP at EVERY platform (be it station or siding). So if the train stops, then the station might expand to have all sorts of things (especially if the station serves as a depot point for a much larger area. I.e. the town where the station caters to say 5-10 neighbouring towns/villages/ranches as well,) which means that almost anything that comes into or leaves the area goes through ONE station. This can lead to things like Ye Olde Prospect Shoppe and the Five Gun Saloon opening up, because farmers/miners might have to go by train to the bigger centers to buy stuff (in SA its not unheard of in some farming towns for people to have to drive up to 2.5 hours just to buy 3 months groceries in one of the bigger centres simply because the local convenience store doesn't carry the products or its cheaper to buy in bulk) or do business (i.e. banks aren't necessarily going to have a branch in a one-horse town in the middle of nowhere so you might have to go to one of the larger towns in the event you need a loan/make a deposit etc).
That's a good description.

But now, also describe the opposite.
How many people will a one stagecoach town have and what buildings it might have?
 
That's a good description.

But now, also describe the opposite.
How many people will a one stagecoach town have and what buildings it might have?

Think about it: you're either a small farmer, work at a larger facility like a ranch or mine (which has its own company housing), or maybe a small time trader/courier or something to that effect. What services are you and enough people like you in the area likely to purchase?

Some vital structures...

  • Dry goods shop
  • Brothel (You would be amazed how often towns sprouted up around these. Gender imbalance out in the boonies)
  • F lophouse (Think hotel, but not alot of frills)
  • Blacksmith
  • Bank (Your wages got to go somewhere, and only an idiot will bring them back to work camp)
  • Stockyard/factory (For sale of cattle and other livestock from surronding farms)
  • Grain Elevator (same deal)
  • Cartwright and Leatherworker (Make sure people have the gear for draft animals)
  • Sheriff's office and courthouse
  • Telegraph or courier station
  • Boardinghouse (For long-time stays, like employees at town edtablishments (
Most bussinesses will have the operator's housing on site.
 
That's a good description.

But now, also describe the opposite.
How many people will a one stagecoach town have and what buildings it might have?

The British TV-series Jericho dealt with the building of a viaduct in the UK after the ACW and the shanty town that sprang up around it. The only thing that Filly left out might be a schoolhouse. A brothel baby is gonna need an education - the three Rs - after all.

Also, by South African standards, one of the first permanent buildings the trekboers put up on establishing a settlement was a church. Or at least a building that could double as a church. Not sure how religious the American frontiersmen were by comparison, I think the priest/chaplains would follow the settlement rather than be involved from the get go.
 
Check out "Born in the Country" by David Danbom; there's a Kindle version available if you need it asap.

It's a good history of rural America which will touch on some of the issues you are looking for.

I'd also suggest "Gateway to the Northern Plains: Railroads and the Birth of Fargo and Moorhead" by Carrol Englehardt

It really looks into the impact railroads had on the growth of a community, the type of business they drew, the people, etc etc etc. I used it as part of my research in my first paper I ever published, and it's good.
 
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