The Fix-Your-Hometown Timeline version 2.0

[Joe Bonkers]

Hello all,

I'm rebooting this idea from last year, with some new TL rules. Hopefully also some fresh ideas from people.

The way it's going to work is this:

1. I'm going to start with the POD, which takes place in the "hometown" area I'm claiming for myself, namely Wilkes-Barre/Scranton, Pennsylvania. It'll be a very local thing at first, but think butterflies.

2. The idea is to write about stuff that results in your hometown being better (obviously you can write about your actual hometown or about another town that you live in now or that you happen to like). The kind of stuff I'm thinking of is: changes that make your hometown bigger, more prosperous, a better place to live, fewer riots, better infrastructure, they built that Art Deco reconstruction of the downtown that was proposed back in 1925, etc. I'm NOT looking for massive changes in political structures.

3. I will write all changes in national and international events. If you participate, please confine your changes to the town/region itself. The national and international scene I come up with is the one your town has to live in and deal with. You can PM me with ideas if you want but let me decide whether or not to post them.

4. Also, please don't go past the date of my last post, as that had a way of making things icky last time around. If the last date I posted for the Wilkes-Barre/Scranton events is 1930, and you have a burning idea for Atlanta, Georgia (let's say) in 1940, tell me to get off my butt and start posting, but please don't post the 1940 idea till I get to 1940.

If this is confusing, please ask me for clarification.

All right? Here's the POD and we're off:

WILKES-BARRE, PENNSYLVANIA

April 1903:

With a massive rumble, in the early afternoon of a Tuesday, a roughly 12-foot-wide section of the nave of St. Peter's Cathedral, the cathedral serving the Diocese of Scranton and located on Wyoming Avenue at the corner of Linden Street, collapses into an underground mine shaft.

Mining engineers from the Hudson Coal Company make a study, and by the end of the week they have dismaying news: the cave-in was caused by an underground mine fire located directly under the block on which the cathedral sits.

For all the benefits the anthracite mining boom has brought to Northeastern Pennsylvania, there are a few rather ugly side effects, and underground mine fires are among the worst. In essence, the coal vein itself, exposed to oxygen from mine shafts, ignites and burns slowly underground. They are extremely difficult to extinguish; the only feasible way to do so is to dig a trench across the coal vein in front of the fire, cutting it off from the coal fueling it.

The location of this particular fire means that a two-block area, just a block from Scranton City Hall, will need to be excavated. The Diocesan Chancery office across Wyoming Avenue is safe, but that is small comfort - the cathedral itself is lost, as the excavation will take about five years to complete. Immediately a search is undertaken for a site for a new cathedral.

Unfortunately for Scranton, its growth in recent years has been so explosive that there are literally no parcels available in the downtown area at a reasonable price.

Scranton's loss is Wilkes-Barre's gain, as the rival city 18 miles to the south gains the prestige of a new cathedral. Wilkes-Barre has two large Catholic churches in its downtown, both on South Washington Street, about a block apart. Both are sizable but with different congregations - St. Nicholas is the "German church," and St. Mary's the "Irish church" - in this area it is typical for immigrant groups to build their own churches, even in the same denomination.

In a show of inter-ethnic cooperation rare for the time, the congregations of St. Nick's and St. Mary's offer to pool their resources to provide a new facility for the diocese. A last-ditch effort to keep the diocesan home in Scranton, at Nativity Church in the Nativity Hill section, fails when it is clear that the bishop believes a downtown office is necessary. The diocese accepts the offer, and title to the two churches is passed to the diocese.

After an expansion project, St. Nicholas is formally reconsecrated a year and a half later as St. Nicholas Cathedral. The Church subsequently buys the remaining properties stretching along the east side of Washington from Northampton Street down to Ross Street, along with a former tavern across the street from the new cathedral. The former St. Mary's School, at the Northampton Street corner, becomes the new chancery offices. St. Mary's becomes an adoration chapel. The former rectory of St. Mary's becomes a convent for Carmelite nuns, and a Catholic Youth Center and a new high school are constructed along the remaining block to South Street. Below South Street is the new rectory, cathedral, elementary school and gardens. The former tavern across the street? It is converted into a St. Vincent de Paul soup kitchen.

Meanwhile, the fire in Scranton is extinguished, and the ground filled in and graded. The city of Scranton ultimately decides not to resell the lots. Instead, a city park is created - called "Cathedral Park" in honor of the lost cathedral - which gives Scranton a downtown park, something Wilkes-Barre has but Scranton until now has lacked. The city park occupies the entire space bounded by Wyoming Avenue, Mulberry Street, Linden Street and Franklin Avenue (with Penn Avenue cutting through). The property on the east side of Wyoming Avenue is sold by the Catholic Church and ironically becomes a religious center again - Congregation Beth Shalom, an Orthodox Jewish synagogue, with the remainder of the property used to build a Hebrew school and theological seminary on the site (corner of Wyoming and Mulberry, site of OTL Bishop Hannan High School).

 

[Joe Bonkers]

WILKES-BARRE, PENNSYLVANIA

October 20, 1906:

The trial of a number of Hanover Township and Plains Township school directors on charges of jury tampering, election fraud, and charges related to graft has been moved up by a few weeks due to evidence of an attempt to tamper with the jury for this trial as well. The jury comes back with a guilty verdict, and the court orders the removal of the local officials pending sentencing.

The news stuns all of Luzerne County, painting a vivid picture of the corruption in the smaller municipalities around Wilkes-Barre and the influence of the coal companies. But it's good news for a reform group that has had placed on the ballot for the upcoming election a petition for Wilkes-Barre to annex Hanover and Plains townships.

Earlier efforts at consolidating the Wyoming Valley's crazy quilt of municipalities had failed, in part because the coal companies exerted a "divide and conquer" influence: better to dominate some three dozen small towns rather than have to confront a few larger and more powerful cities. Corruption at the local level from "da guys" who wanted to be big fish in small ponds didn't help either. This occurred despite a definite need for the city to have room to grow and expand, as its population continued to boom thanks to the anthracite mines.

Now, in addition to the arguments in favor of Wilkes-Barre's and the Valley's growth, the reformers have a new argument: help us stand up to corruption and to the coal barons. Some of the foot soldiers of "da guys" are co-opted by being promised cushy jobs in the expanded city; that's a nose-holding act on the part of the reformers, but it had to be done to get consolidation through; the co-opted fellows promptly bought rounds in the local taverns and regaled the voters on the value of a greater Wilkes-Barre.

The consolidation vote on election day 1906 goes strongly in favor of joining Hanover Township and Plains Township to Wilkes-Barre. Not only is the city now larger, but the psychological barrier to consolidation has been broken. It will now be a much smoother path to a Wilkes-Barre that incorporates most of the central Wyoming Valley.

In fact, some effects are almost immediate: within a year, the residents of the tiny borough of Warrior Run, previously surrounded by Hanover Township, petition the city of Wilkes-Barre for incorporation.

 

[Joe Bonkers]

WILKES-BARRE, PENNSYLVANIA

1907:

Concurrent with becoming president of the Delaware & Hudson, Leonor F. Loree simultaneously accepts an offer from the board of the Delaware, Lackawanna & Western to double as president of that line as well. The simultaneous presidency of the DL&W and D&H gives Loree an opportunity to put into action some of his ideas for "super-railroading," which leads to a new wave of rail expansion in the East.

Already, the DL&W has plans on the ground for construction of the Lackawanna Cutoff, a super-railroad (meaning that it is strung at a high altitude along the tops of ridges, avoiding curves and grades to the extent possible, with massive fills, cuts and bridges through the landscape) that will shorten greatly the distance between Scranton and New York. Likewise, the DL&W has finalized plans to rebuilt its mainline north of Scranton to Binghamton as a super-railroad, to include the largest concrete arch bridge in the world spanning Tunkhannock Creek above the town of Nicholson.

Loree moves forward with both plans. However, just two years later he takes a series of actions that rocks the industry.

First, he leads the DL&W into a merger with the Erie. Ever since the "rape" of the Erie by Gould, Fisk and Drew in the 1860s, the line has skirted bankruptcy. Although much larger in mileage than the Lackawanna, it is considerably weaker financially. The new company will be dubbed the "Erie Lackawanna Railway," but it's clear from the start that the DL&W is the dominant partner in the merger. Underlining this, Scranton is chosen as the site of the EL's corporate headquarters (meaning that Loree frequently travels back and forth between there and the D&H's headquarters in Albany, New York).

Then, in 1911, before the super-railroad is even finished, Loree grants trackage rights to the D&H over the entire line between Scranton and Binghamton. This allows the D&H to terminate its lease of the Erie's Jefferson Division, which had been serving as the D&H's line between the two cities. The twisty, mountainous Jefferson Division is in turn sold by the EL to the New York, Ontario & Western.

Loree now begins a super-railroad revamp of the old DL&W Bloomsburg Division, the one-time Lackawanna & Bloomsburg, which runs from Scranton to Northumberland, Pa. First he strikes a deal with the Pennsylvania Railroad. The D&H and PRR had already begun building a bypass around downtown Wilkes-Barre, the Wilkes-Barre Connecting Railroad, to allow for their friendly connection in Wilkes-Barre to avoid the downtown's congestion (the D&H and PRR together form a through route between the South and New England and eastern Canada). Loree negotiates for EL trains to use the WBCRR also, as well as the D&H's and PRR's routes into and out of downtown Wilkes-Barre via trackage rights. Loree then buys a bridge across the Susquehanna at Nanticoke owned by the Central Railroad of New Jersey but little used. Now, EL trains can head over the D&H to Hudson Yard, where passenger trains will continue on the D&H into the downtown passenger station (the Lehigh Valley's) while freight trains veer onto the WBCRR. At Buttonwood Yard, in southern Wilkes-Barre (Hanover Township until the 1907 consolidation), the two lines rejoin, with EL trains now on the PRR for about five miles. At Nanticoke, the EL trains will cross the river and head south on EL rails.

Loree revamps the Bloomsburg Division to super-railroad standards. A friendly connection just south of Bloomsburg with the Reading is maintained. Then, between Bloomsburg and Danville, a new line strikes out westward. For here is Loree's true ambition: a super-railroad across the center of Pennsylvania, connecting to Pittsburgh.

The line as built runs roughly west-southwest from Danville, passing through Lewisburg, Mifflinburg, Millheim and through a long tunnel near Pleasant Gap. The line passes through State College, a boon to Penn State University, which will finally get decent rail service. A pair of massive bridges cross the Nittany and Bald Eagle valleys. the line then skirts the tops of ridges through the soft-coal country to the west before arriving in Pittsburgh.

Loree's plan is to use the former Erie to solicit freight from Chicago and the Northwest and the new line to solicit from Pittsburgh and the Southwest, via friendly connections to gateways like Cincinnati and St. Louis. The former Erie already has the advantage of wide clearances as it was built for a wider gauge originally; this is helpful in transforming the Erie into a metallic speedway.

By 1916, Loree decides he wants to concentrate on the EL and resigns as president of the D&H. That railroad, with its new super-line between Scranton and Binghamton, decides to strengthen ties with its friendly southern connection, the PRR. Among other innovations, the two railroads establish a new passenger service, with a series of trains running from Montreal and Boston (the latter in conjunction with the Boston & Maine) via Albany, Binghamton, Scranton, Wilkes-Barre, and Harrisburg to Washington, DC. This allows passengers from New England and Canada who wish to travel south to do so avoiding the congestion of New York City.

Scranton presents a slight problem, in that some ten years earlier the DL&W had turned down plans to build a union station at the point where the D&H and DL&W crossed, and instead built its own station at Lackawanna and Jefferson at the other end of downtown, in a spot most inconvenient for the D&H. At first, the D&H/PRR trains have to do a backup move to get into the DL&W station, or else use the D&H's dinky dirty station at the corner of Lackawanna and Mifflin. But enough of the working relationship between the D&H and EL remains for Loree to arrange for one more reshuffling.

The D&H buys a portion of the former Erie & Wyoming Valley, the old Erie branch line from Scranton into Wilkes-Barre, between Elmhurst and Avoca. The EL will use its D&H trackage rights to access the remaining portion south of Avoca, and build a new crossover onto the old DL&W mainline at Elmhurst.

At the point where the D&H mainline crosses the E&WV in Avoca, the D&H builds a connection to allow trains to pass onto the E&WV. It then rebuilds the E&WV, which skirts the eastern end of Scranton, to passenger-train standards. The D&H builds a new bridge from a point above Moosic Street over Roaring Brook to a new junction with the EL just west of the Nay Aug Tunnel, to be dubbed "Nay Aug Junction." The D&H then obtains trackage rights over the EL mainline to its own mainline. This allows D&H/PRR trains to pass through the Lackawanna Station and continue either north or south.

In Wilkes-Barre, the growth of the D&H/PRR, the establishment of the EL with its Pittsburgh passenger trains running through, and the presence of the LV and CNJ passenger trains, all point to the need for a new passenger station to replace the overloaded LV and CNJ stations. The idea had been proposed in 1909 but turned down. Now it was essential.

 

[Joe Bonkers]

I forgot to mention: if you do decide to participate, please use the format I'm using above (write the name of your town at the top of your post so we know what town you're talking about). And don't worry about whether or not people know the local landmarks or not; that's what Google Earth is for.

 

[GigaBreakDrill]

CHARLOTTESVILLE, VIRGINIA

1865:

It was cool spring's morning of 1865 when Major General Philip Sheridan was moving his regulars through the western part of the state of Virginia, to meet with Grant's Army of the Potomac to finish off Lee's army, and end the Civil War that had been plaguing the country for almost four years. His cavalry regiment moved quickly across the roads that connected Virginia together, and made a good pace to meet up with Grant's and hopefully Custer's forces as well in the coming weeks, maybe even days if they were lucky enough not to run into any would be fighters left out west.

Sheridan at the head of his regiment, was taken out of his focus on the road by a scout riding up alongside him, reporting on a town just a bit north of their current path that had a railway that had been more than likely used as a way to transport Confederate supplies, goods, and troops to the west and or east throughout the war. Sheridan considered the detour as they made their way along the road, but simply chose to keep to the path to meet up with Grant earlier, rather than take a detour to ruin a simple railroad of a small town. "The war is dying down private, and I wish to see my cavalry be there for the death of these rebels." Sheridan responded before continuing back along the road east to meet up with Grant's forces to help end the war.

That town the scout had found was the town of Charlottesville, Virginia. Who had just had their railroad spared by a general's drive to end a war, and for the coming years they would thank him for that.
___________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

Not exactly what I would call my hometown, but the town I was born in and lived the first seven years of my life in. So I'd say a good town to try and fix. So IOTL, Sheridan originally went to Charlottesville to burn down a railroad bridge to prevent supply lines moving east or west anymore. But, in the process of stealing coal from the wool manufacturing factory in town, they accidently burnt it down after a soldier had dropped a hot coal onto the ground of the factory having it burnt down. So the town of barely 2,000 had it's railroad access and factory crippled for a while.

So here neither is burnt down and also the University of Virginia is still there. So who knows what will happen next.

 

[Joe Bonkers]

WILKES-BARRE, PENNSYLVANIA:

November 7, 1916:

With war in Europe looming, this election promises to be an important one for the United States.

In Luzerne County, it's an important election for a different reason: this election night is the culmination of almost four years' worth of work by local reformers working toward the creation of a Greater Wilkes-Barre. Tonight is the night of the "Big Consolidation" vote.

The absorption of Hanover Township and Plains Township in 1906 had overcome the psychological barrier that existed in the county toward absorption of the smaller towns by Wilkes-Barre. The city government had taken great pains to ensure that the effort to absorb the adjoining municipalities went smoothly. A disruptive consolidation, after all, would thwart the effort to unite the Wyoming Valley's many communities under the city's flag.

The borough of Warrior Run had been annexed at the request of its residents shortly afterward, in August 1907. Over the following three years, Wilkes-Barre had also successfully annexed Parsons, Miners Mills, Ashley, and Sugar Notch. The effort to annex Wilkes-Barre Township had been tougher, but after a great deal of argument in the local meeting houses (which is to say, taverns), the township had voted in favor of annexation in 1912.

But those were mere child's play compared to today's ballot. The vote today would determine whether the city of Nanticoke; the city of Pittston; the townships of Jenkins and Pittston; and the boroughs of Plymouth, Larksville, Edwardsville, Courtdale, Pringle, Kingston, Luzerne, Dorranceton, Forty Fort, Swoyersville, Wyoming, West Wyoming, Exeter, West Pittston, Laflin, Yatesville, Dupont, Avoca, and Duryea, would remain separate towns or become part of a single City of Wilkes-Barre.

The smaller of the towns had long since fallen in line behind the idea of consolidation, as it had become clear that the advantages outweighed the disadvantages. Most especially, as the city grew, so did its ability to protect its residents from the worst depredations of the coal companies, particularly their abusive effect on surface properties.

But some major obstacles remained. Residents of Plymouth and Nanticoke, at the south end of the valley, questioned whether downtown Wilkes-Barre was physically too far away to allow the communities to integrate successfully. Larksville and Dupont had only recently become separate communities (from Plymouth and Pittston townships, respectively), and some residents were uncomfortable with losing their identity again. Pittston-area residents had the same concerns as the Plymouth and Nanticoke folks, plus the dominance of the coal companies, especially the unsavory elements that had begun to cluster around the Pennsylvania Coal Company and that involved a certain group of Sicilian immigrants, was especially strong there. Kingston, Dorranceton and Forty Fort presented perhaps the biggest obstacle, as they constituted the aristocratic upper crust of the valley - there was a fair amount of sentiment there against "lowering themselves" to the "level" of Wilkes-Barre.

The reformers, working hard on the ground in advance of the vote, approached the various communities in different ways. In Plymouth and Nanticoke, the ability of a larger city to arrange adequate transportation to and from the downtown hub was emphasized. In Pittston, residents were urged to resist corruption, at risk to the reformers' lives per the rumors, although fortunately no incidents occurred. There wasn't much that could be done about the snobs of Kingston, Dorranceton and Forty Fort, but the reformers instead focused on the working-class and middle-class residents of the boroughs to get out the vote as widely as possible.

On election night, as the votes began to pour in, the safer communities were easily disposed of: Edwardsville, Luzerne, and the other smaller west side communities came in easily in favor of consolidation, as did Jenkins Township, Laflin, and Yatesville. Historic Wyoming, placated by the city's pledge to respect the Wyoming area's historic heritage, also voted in favor. Exeter and West Pittston voted yes surprisingly early. The desire of Larksville and Dupont residents to remain separate was tarnished by further corruption scandals in those boroughs, and they voted early to consolidate.

The night's first major disappointment occurred when the returns from Nanticoke voted a clear no. The residents there remained unconvinced that the town could be linked readily to Wilkes-Barre. Indeed, Nanticoke, at the far end of the valley, would spurn all future attempts at consolidation and remain stubbornly independent (although Nanticoke itself absorbed neighboring Newport Township, in 1925).

The bad news from Nanticoke, however, was soon wiped away by returns that brought a resounding cheer from the reformers among the election counters: Plymouth had voted in favor of consolidation.

The vote in Pittston was a matter of great concern, and at the insistence of reformers, the county had stationed sheriff's deputies at the polling places in Pittston to prevent election fraud. The city council loudly cried that this action was an insult to the Pittston police, but a last-minute attempt to gain an injunction in county court failed. The presence of the deputies helped residents to vote without intimidation. Pittston voted in favor of consolidation.

The returns from the three wealthy west side communities proved to be the real nail-biters, far more so than Pittston. It wasn't until well into Wednesday that the final returns showed a slight majority in Dorranceton in favor of consolidation, and an even smaller majority in Forty Fort; the morning Wilkes-Barre Record was forced to go to press with the headline "Pittston, West Side to Join W-B; N-coke Says No; Kingston Still Out." Kingston, directly across the river from downtown Wilkes-Barre, was such a mirror image of Wilkes-Barre that the downtown street grid continued into Kingston. Without Kingston aboard, the whole scheme would suffer catastrophic damage.

Finally, late Wednesday, after a careful count and then recount of the Kingston votes, the county election office announced the final returns: by a paper-thin margin of just 157 votes, Kingston had voted in favor of consolidating with Wilkes-Barre.

Fireworks were shot into the air that evening along the River Common waterfront, and a crowd of some 5,000 flocked to Public Square and spilled out into the adjoining streets to celebrate. Wilkes-Barre would now stretch all the way from the south end of Plymouth and the Nanticoke line almost 20 miles to the Lackawanna County line. The population of the city would more than triple at a single stroke. Briefly, it would be the third largest city in Pennsylvania.

Scranton now scrambled not to lose its pride of place to its rival city. A consolidation scheme was hastily put into place there as well, and it would be voted upon in November 1917. As with Nanticoke, so with Carbondale, at the far north end of the Lackawanna Valley; it voted to stay out of Scranton, and adjoining Mayfield, Vandling and Simpson voted to join Carbondale rather than Scranton. But the rest of the communities in the Lackawanna Valley voted in favor of consolidation with Scranton. Scranton resumed its place as the state's third-largest city, but Wilkes-Barre now ran a close fourth. Scranton now stretched from Carbondale down to the Luzerne County line - meaning that Scranton and Wilkes-Barre were now true twin cities. Both now had ample room for more growth, with the sky seeming to be the limit.

 

[big-click]

This is my favorite new idea I've seen in a while. Not sure I'll participate - I have a few other writing projects rn - but ultra-local AH is fun.

 

[Joe Bonkers]

Yes it is.

 

[CountDVB]

((Hope I do this right...)

CUMMING, GEORGIA

1912- The 1912 Racial Conflicts of Forsyth County were an inevitability, but the actions of those involved were a bit different. Toney Howell remained vigilant that he did not assault Ellen Grice and as the trial grew, the tensions grew worse and escalated. However, things turned in a different direction when Ellen Grice was overheard having made the whole thing up due to pressures as a result of racial tensions and blood thirst. The fact this was overheard by several key officials meant they threw out the case. This resulted in Howell and the other suspects having to be hauled in jail for their safety while a mob formed to get the judge as a result. It grew worse when Grant Smith had tried to talk them down and was instead beaten. The tipping point was when the judge and several officials were assaulted as a result of the blood rage.

Reid had his deputy, Mitchell Lummus get reinforcements and eventually, the tensions to where the governor was forced to call martial law and the snowballing scandal would end up getting greater national attention. The fact that the white lynch mobs have become determined to attack innocents along with escalating property damage led to National Guard groups coming in to keep peace. Unfortunately by this point, the frenzied up whites were even shooting at National Guard members. This forced the Governor to focus more attention on it, especially as the nation took note of it. Eventually, reinforcements came in and dozens of arrests have made in over in the small town.

However, the event had ramifications, especially amongst the angry family members of the slain National Guard members, one in particular have strong sway in politics. The families of those involved in the 1912 Race Conflicts were convicted and the families eventually left Forsyth county in disgrace. However, the rest of northern Georgia would no accept them as fear of the Race Conflicts spreading to them and affecting economies and prospect would force them to leave to nearby states. While the rest of northern Georgia tightened security, national politics were affected to try and do something about lynching, especially as news of the event would spread to the rest of the South and potentially beyond.

While a few papers tried to appeal to the side of the whites, they were meant with disdain due to attempts of "justifying murder and riots" while other papers exploited the tragedy to scandalous heights, painting the white population as trigger-happy and blood-thirsty, with one political cartoon pointing out the true threat to white women was none other than angry white men themselves. As for the blacks themselves, they were unsure how to handle this until a wounded National Guardsman, staying at one of their houses, lended them their firearm to protect themselves from Night Riders. The success encouraged some more clever businessman to sell firearms at discount prices to black folks in Cumming and the rest of Forsyth, with some of the guns even being those confiscated from those kicked out. The firearms were not as good as others since they were presumably black market, but it worked enough to help. While this initially led to greater conflict, most courts refused to handle cases of white folk entering a house only to be shot back. This would result in the eventual de-escalation of the events and the governor reluctantly permitted blacks of Georgia to carry firearms in order to secure their safety to try and end martial law.

By the end of the year, more than 200 people died on both sides, but the blacks have refused to leave Cumming and Forsyth, having been inspired by friendly whites to "stand their ground" and protect their homes. Several new ideas have begun spreading, namely in blacks having been able to secure firearms for themselves while others who couldn't began finding loopholes, such as the creation of crossbows instead of guns. Meanwhile, National Guardsmen found themselves appalled at the blood thirst their fellow Americans were so willing to indulge in and having to bury some of their brothers for such a thing. Others gained a newfound respect for the African-Americans who tried to protect them, shield them or help. Some even were inspired to go into politics to ensure such a thing never happened.

Beforehand, there were over 10,000 whites and over a 1,000 blacks. As the whites left either out of fear or disgust, blacks came in to get the property, resulting in about a total of around 10,000 with over 7,000 whites and over 2,000 blacks by the end of the year. Cumming would be changed forever as the nation would see them stained red and the fate of the city would lay in what would happen next. However, they also became the first city of the south to have strong gun support for blacks.

Beyond that, most changes were relatively little, though one note remained. D.W. Griffith mentioned the incident during a session later in his life; he talked about he considered adapting the book/play The Clansman for a film back in 1915, but the events had him scrap the idea and instead apply his innovative techniques of cinema in a different film, Intolerance. One of his most famous films, it focused on different points of intolerance, such as the Judean story and that of the Huguenots, though the big one was on the modern day, which focused on the woes of the common man when dealing with big business, which included on how two friends, a black man and white, were turned against one another by the rich, ending with the white having to bury his friend while weeping, including a shot expanding to see other graves belonging to various people, but all the same gravestones.

 

[Unknown]

Well, it's a start, @CountDVB, I'll say that much; it will take more than this, though, to change some people's minds.

BTW, @Joe Bonkers, love that you're starting up this TL again and not having massive political changes, IMO (and waiting for more on Wilkes-Barre and Scranton)...

 

[CountDVB]

Well, it's a start, @CountDVB, I'll say that much; it will take more than this, though, to change some people's minds.

BTW, @Joe Bonkers, love that you're starting up this TL again and not having massive political changes, IMO (and waiting for more on Wilkes-Barre and Scranton)...

Yeah, but my town is pretty small and insignificant otherwise so baby steps!

Also, I technically butterflied away Birtrh of a Nation and the 2nd KKK as a result if anyone noted...

 

[GigaBreakDrill]

I just made Charlottesville a bit more attractive post civil war with them being one of the few towns unscathed.

 

[Joe Bonkers]

WILKES-BARRE, PENNSYLVANIA

January 1920:

Prompted by the Big Consolidations of 1916 and 1917, the various electric street railways of the Wilkes-Barre/Scranton region, some of which are in better financial shape than others, but nearly all of which could stand for some financial improvement, finalize a merger of all of their properties.

Included in the merger are:

1) The Lackawanna & Wyoming Valley (Laurel Line), which links downtown Wilkes-Barre to downtown Scranton and includes an incomplete branch to Carbondale (constructed only as far as what is now the Dunmore section of Scranton);
2) The Wilkes-Barre & Hazleton, linking downtown Wilkes-Barre to the city of Hazleton in southern Luzerne County, about 30 miles away;
3) The Scranton, Montrose & Binghamton (Northern Electric), which was intended to go from Scranton to Binghamton, New York, but only made it as far as Montrose, about 50 miles from Scranton, including a branch to the resort of Lake Winola;
4) The Wilkes-Barre Railway Company, operating the streetcar lines of Wilkes-Barre, including the line to the resort of Harvey's Lake, the largest natural body of water in Pennsylvania;
5) The Scranton Railway Company, operating the streetcar lines of Scranton;
6) The Lehigh Traction Company, operating the streetcar lines of Hazleton;
7) The People's Street Railway of Nanticoke and Newport, operating a streetcar line serving Nanticoke;
8) And the little Scranton, Dunmore & Moosic Lake, operating a streetcar line extending from the end of the Scranton Railway's Dunmore line up to the resort area of Moosic Lake.

The newly merged company is called the Northeast Pennsylvania Transit Company. It establishes its corporate offices in the Scranton Electric Building on Linden Street in downtown Scranton.

Although many of these lines do not at this time physically connect, connections can be easily built, and the opportunity to coordinate operations is obvious.

The planned construction of the new passenger terminal for the vastly-expanded city of Wilkes-Barre - which is now growing rapidly, its increased size having spurred further growth - had been bound to affect the transit systems serving the Diamond City. The merged company will now be in a better position to plan better coordinated services - possibly even expanded ones - in conjunction with the new terminal.

 

[CountDVB]

CUMMING, GA

1916:

Four years since the incident, the city has been dealing with various economic declines. After all, who would want to deal with the Riot town? Various northern Georgian towns had to work harder to attract businesses and have grown a mild disdain for Cumming ever since. However, this mean some interesting changes as a more liberal mayor promised to help bring in more businesses in. The city, in a state of mild desperation and wariness, voted him in by a close margin. Said mayor though was in fact not lying. Through connections he had, he managed to contact a friend of a friend in Gainesville, GA, a city relatively close to Cumming. That through the use of land purchases, they would be able to bring some business back through a trolley system, much like the one placed already in Gainesville.

In fact, there were hopes that one day, the trolley system could grow enough to connect the two towns to further utilize the technology. As such, Cumming became the center for the Cumming Electric Railway System, which would grow to become the Forsyth Electric Railway System later in the future. Now, the land bought was actually sold more by whites than blacks, since many saw it as a way to get some money to move out of town in the hopes to shake off the recent reputation. Ironically enough, the remaining whites began growing a bit closer to the black and mulatto populations as a result. Furthermore, the town's relative isolation compared to their neighbors was a blessing-in-disguise since it meant that it would be more independent of the policies done by their neighbors. For example, the Cumming Railway System and its successors were among the few trolly systems to never have segregation enforced, albeit more as a result of most people not really paying attention and the town's smaller size of the time. Furthermore, the trolley limitations during that time meant that it was not practical to be able to enforce it anyway.

This would lead to a marginal increase in the black population, coming mainly from Atlanta and getting the real estate that was not used by the new rail company to help manage the place. While the railway system did not do much for Cumming in the short run economically, it did have plenty of long-term effects. The result of the lack of segregation meant that the whites and blacks interacted more and got to know each other better, which led to an increase in positive relations between the two, creating the seeds for what was to come in the upcoming generations. In addition, the Cumming Electric Railway System and its successors would grow larger overtime and become one of the only streetcar systems operating still in the area with the introduction of the automobile. Lastly, the improved relations between Cumming and Gainesville would have Cumming working to improve its lot compared to Gainesville.

Beyond the introduction of the streetcars, the town remained much the same though things were abuzz with news about the Great War happening in Europe and whether the United States would enter the war going on there...

 

[Joe Bonkers]

CountDVB, just curious: is the Cumming Electric Railway your own invention, or is that historical? (Good idea either way.)

 

[CountDVB]

CountDVB, just curious: is the Cumming Electric Railway your own invention, or is that historical? (Good idea either way.)

My own invention. Cumming, GA is a pretty small and unimportant town with the only thing notable was said incident that I used earlier. There was still a lot of racial tensions, even back when my parents first moved there when I was like 2 or 3.

Though, my scenario may have butterflied away the KKK possibly... so feel free to use that if ya want.

 

[Chapman]

I love the idea of this thread, and I think i'll give it a shot later when I have more time to do some research. That being said, if anybody should happen to have any good resources on Poughkeepsie, NY (a long-shot, I know, but worth putting out there no less), it'd be much appreciated!

 

[1940LaSalle]

What the heck...I'll take a shot at this as the spirit moves me.

This is a relatively late POD involving one of the last company towns in the US: Sparrows Point, MD. To save people the effort, the town itself no longer exists. It was in southeastern Baltimore County, on a peninsula with the Patapsco River on the west, the Chesapeake Bay on the south, and an estuary called Jones Creek on the east. It was also owned down to the last doorknob (very minor exaggeration) by Bethlehem Steel.

June 1959

Steelmakers, including Bethlehem Steel, were riding high in the late 1950s. That induced the leadership of the United Steelworkers of America (USWA) to seek a substantial wage increase. The owners balked, refusing to grant increases unless section 2(b) of the national contract were altered significantly or eliminated outright. That clause limited the owner's ability to change the number of workers assigned to a job or to introduce new work rules and/or machinery that would yield reduced hours and/or workers. Management claimed it would reduce featherbedding and make operations more efficient / profitable leading (ultimately) to higher wages, while union leaders viewed this as a union-breaking ploy.

Negotiations worked through June 1959. With the Independence Day weekend coming, practical heads prevailed at least in the short term, yielding a temporary contract extension at least through the weekend, giving both sides more time to think over the situation and come up with possible new approaches.

 

[CountDVB]

What the heck...I'll take a shot at this as the spirit moves me.

This is a relatively late POD involving one of the last company towns in the US: Sparrows Point, MD. To save people the effort, the town itself no longer exists. It was in southeastern Baltimore County, on a peninsula with the Patapsco River on the west, the Chesapeake Bay on the south, and an estuary called Jones Creek on the east. It was also owned down to the last doorknob (very minor exaggeration) by Bethlehem Steel.

June 1959

Steelmakers, including Bethlehem Steel, were riding high in the late 1950s. That induced the leadership of the United Steelworkers of America (USWA) to seek a substantial wage increase. The owners balked, refusing to grant increases unless section 2(b) of the national contract were altered significantly or eliminated outright. That clause limited the owner's ability to change the number of workers assigned to a job or to introduce new work rules and/or machinery that would yield reduced hours and/or workers. Management claimed it would reduce featherbedding and make operations more efficient / profitable leading (ultimately) to higher wages, while union leaders viewed this as a union-breaking ploy.

Negotiations worked through June 1959. With the Independence Day weekend coming, practical heads prevailed at least in the short term, yielding a temporary contract extension at least through the weekend, giving both sides more time to think over the situation and come up with possible new approaches.

Uh dude, you can’t do a later point gab what the founder of the thread has. No later than 1920 right now.

 

[Unknown]

Waiting for more, and @1940LaSalle, it can wait until Joe Bonkers gets to that year in the TL...