Metropolis: City of Tomorrow
Following the Mexican War, the Republican Union had expanded its borders once more. Unlike the Great Plains, though, this new land had a more civilized people who could revolt against Philadelphia and would always harbor sentiment against their conquerors from the north. It was this reason that fueled the birth of the policy of Americanization. "Only Americanizing the land is possible", George McClellan said in 1886. "Peace shall not come until the land is absolutely dominated by the Pinnacle Man." Initially this policy was just the expansion of the Separate Worlds policy to Mexicans, forcing them into their own ghettos. However, this all changed with the New Years Riots of 1889, resulting in the death of 150 Yankee soldiers. After the uprising was crushed, Custer sent out Presidential Directive 764, the destruction of Mexico City.
"Mexico City must disappear from the face of the earth. Every building must be razed to the ground and every resident eliminated or removed."
- Presidential Directive 764, January 4, 1889
In 1889, Mexico City was entirely destroyed, destined to make way for the new city of Metropolis. An estimated 80% of the men living in Mexico City before the war were executed or deported. Those that remained, along with women and children, were forced to dismantle the city piece by piece, day and night, for the next two years. At the dawn of 1890, the city was mostly gone, it's monuments destroyed and heritage taken to museums throughout the Union. Of the 500,000 people who called the city home before the war, 400,000 had been either executed or pressed into work details outside of the city, while the remaining 100,000 were left huddled in camps hastily put up around the city or squatting in nearby Texcoco. By Patriot-Saints Day, three quarters of those remaining had been deported to other parts of the country.
With a relatively blank slate, hundreds of architects and engineers were summoned to the city of Metropolis, which at this point was just a military camp centered around McClellan Castle. A committee was formed, and given the task to start construction on a "City of Tomorrow" by 1892 and "ready by Crawford's Centennial", 1901. For the first few weeks, chaos ensured as a massive battle of egos took place, but by the Autumnal Equinox a clear hierarchy had been established in the committee and a plan, mainly created by architect Daniel Burnham and engineer Hermann Moos[1]. It was Moos' grand plan for refilling Lake Texcoco, to be renamed Lake Washington, along with the canals of old Tenochtitlan, that won over the ever ambitious Burnham, who quickly got everyone else to fall in line through various deals and compromises. Moos, a Jewish immigrant from the Rheinbund, drew inspiration from the canals of Amsterdam and Venice he had seen on his travels as a university student. Engineers worked with Moos to design the various dykes, dams, and canals in such a way as to prevent the city from flooding and to keep the lake pristine. Through 1891, the remaining 25,000 residents of Mexico City, along with the population of Texcoco, worked day and night to dig the canals and build the dykes. It's estimated that 1500 died during the construction of Lake Washington. There bodies were merely buried in shallow mass graves in the future lake bed, leading to the taboo nickname for the lake, the New Dead Sea. When Custer came to visit the city in 1892, the lake had begun to fill once more. At their pace, Burnham and Moos estimated that the city would be finished by 1900.
Daniel Burnham (left) and Hermann Moos (Right), the fathers of Metropolis
Their estimate was correct, and construction was officially finished on May 28th, 1900, the 14th anniversary of the start of the Mexican War. At that point the remaining inferiors were cleared out. Hardly a trace of the old city remained, save for the street grid around McClellan Castle, which became the seat of the New Canaan state government. The
Zocalo, the old city center, was now home to a giant central park designed by Frederick Olmsted, designer of New York City's Central Park. Once narrow streets and back alleys gave way to wide axial prospects[2] lined with trees and geometric street planning. It was a city of many firsts. Metropolis was the first city with a water treatment facility, the first American city with publicly-run bath houses inspired by the
sento of Nippon, the first city with indoor toilets in every house, and the first American city with city planning laws. But these firsts paled in comparison to the first extensive phone network in the city. Every home had it's own telephone, free of charge, and phone booths were scattered around the city. What people did not know was that every phone in the city was connected to Metropolis' RUMP headquarters, where everyone's calls would be listened to. Hundreds of transcribers sat ready to write down any tidbit that could be of use. It was the first urban mass surveillance system in the world. Metropolis was home to the largest airfield in the world, and for a time, the largest building by volume in the world. Benedict Arnold University of Boston opened a second campus in Metropolis, aptly named the Benedict Arnold University of Metropolis, or BAUM. The city that Burnham and Moos had built was a city so grand it challenged Haussmann's renovations of Paris half a century prior as the most beautiful city in the world. Metropolis was truly a city to behold, just as Custer wanted. Now it was ready for it's second purpose: to outdo the 1889 Europan Exhibition, held in Paris France.
In 1901, the 100th anniversary of Crawford's Rebellion, Metropolis was presented to the world when it hosted the Centennial Exposition. Visitors from all over Europe and America came and gawked at the city Burnham and Moos had built. Due to the classical style of architecture and Moos' canals, Europeans dubbed the city the "Venice of the New World". However, the more popular nickname for Metropolis was the White City, first coined in
the New York Times on July 1st. Attractions were spread around the city, but the focal point was at Lakefront Plaza, home of the Administration Building the original record holder for tallest building in Metropolis. It's eastern facade was flanked by a reflecting pool that lead straight up to the shore of Lake Washington. At the end of the reflecting pool was a 50-foot tall stature of the Angel of Destiny. After the Centennial Exhibition the building was renamed to the Palace of Patriots and served as the seat of the municipal government. On the southern edge of the reflecting pool was the Manufacturer's and Liberal Arts Hall, the largest building in the world at the time. During the exposition it held exhibits of the latest goods from companies across the Republican Union. Exhibits ranging from the more practical like the displays of guns by Colt and Colonel Pierce Munitions and the latest in manufactured clothing from Colonel Goodyear Enterprises to the outlandish displays like the Sweet Victory Fountain, the ice room, and even a house of tomorrow, exploring the home of 1950. After the expo, the hall was turned into the world's largest arcade[3]. On the northern edge of the Reflection Pool stood the Hall of Fine Art, housing various pieces of artwork from Yankee and Indian cultures, including sculptures taken from the ruins of Tenochtitlan, along with a concert hall where an orchestra would play daily. To the North of the Hall of Fine Art was the Hamlet of States, where the various state governments had pavilions to show the glory of America. However, none of the attractions on the lake front were the stand out attraction of the expo. That honor goes to the Sky Wheel[4] located in Central Park. Standing at a height of 264 feet, the Sky Wheel took passengers up in the air to give panoramic views of Metropolis. It was designed to be Metropolis' Aiglon Tower[5], and it was. The Sky Wheel was such a success that copy cats quickly popped up all over the world. However, despite the awe of the attractions and buildings, there was one glaring problem expo-goers noticed: the lack of people. Metropolis was supposed to house 150,000 people. However, by the opening of the fair, the city was estimated to only be home to 30,000 people. Most of the buildings constructed outside of the downtown core were just empty shells and entire neighborhoods had yet to be constructed. The Centennial Exposition filled the city. Thanks to national coverage, the city's population soared to 100,000 by 1906. By 1908, the city reached its population target of 150,000, 55% of whom were Jews.
The exposition was a huge success. Burnham and Moos were awarded Order of Patriotic Brethren medallions on the closing day of the Centennial Exposition by President Custer. Moos would settle down in Metropolis, teaching engineering at BAUM until his death in 1907. Daniel Burnham was awarded a contract to rebuild the city of Shicagwa after the Great Shicagwa Fire of 1902. His reconstruction plan, known as the Burnham Plan, lead to the creation of many of Shicagwa's famous landmarks such as Lakeshore Park, the Shicagwa Civic Center, home of the city government, and Shicagwa's famous Diplomat Row, home to many Diplomatic Missions[6] from around the world.
The Palace of Patriots at Night
Manufacturer's and Liberal Arts Hall, 1901
Shicagwa Civic Center, 1910
1: known IOTL as Hermann Einstein, father of Albert Einstein
2: TTL's name for boulevard in American English
3: TTl's name for shopping malls. Arcade was the term used to describe early shopping malls IOTL, and the term sticks around ITTL.
4: TTL's name for the Ferris wheel. Will cover the history of the pleasure park (TTL's amusement parks) in a future update
5: The Eiffel Tower, named after the recently deceased Napoleon II ITTL
6: TTL's name for Consulates