In 1850 New England railroads were gaining much attention, as farmers and manufacturers of the region were realizing new hopes and possibilities in transportation of goods.
With newly added railroads of the mid-1800's, New England manufacturers and farmers were now able to quickly ship goods to the large markets of Baltimore, New York, and Philadelphia, and to most other parts of the country.
With new farming areas in the western states competing with New England farmers for production of staples, New England farmers began concentrating on cultivating products used in the making of the latest popular manufactures including potash, charcoal, and pearlash. Tobacco was also grown vigorously in New England during this time.
In 1849 Boston experienced a major outbreak of cholera. From June to November of that year nearly 700 cases of cholera were reported, mostly resulting in death. According to J.H. McCollom’s “Boston Medical and Surgical Journal” of 1892, one doctor at the time reported that “the cases of cholera were found chiefly among the foreigners, and that they were mostly intemperate subjects.”
The entire state of Maine was made a dry-state in 1851. It had become apparent that productivity was at an all-time low in Portland, as many "rum-punch" operators had been allowed to set up barrels full of rum along the city streets to entice the public all day long. The law forbidding the sale or possession of alchohol in Maine was repealed in 1856, following the much publicized Portland Rum Riot of 1855.
In 1851, journalist Henry Jarvis Raymond and banker George Jones founded The New York Times as the "New-York Daily Times" in New York.
This detailed map was published in 1850 by John Calvin Smith. It shows placenames, waterways and relief, of portions of New York, New Hampshire, Vermont, Maine, Massachusetts, Rhode Island, Connecticut, New Jersey, Pennsylvania and Canada.
Features illustrations of the following locations:
Notch White Mountains.
Niagara from foot of the American Fall.
View from Mount Holyoke, MA.
Falls of Montmorency.