160 



CITIES, AMERICAN. (MANCHESTER, MEADVILLE, MICHIGAN CITY.) 



are published. Four banks (1 national) had a 

 capital of $275,000 in 1891. 



Manchester, a city of Virginia, in Chester- 

 field County, on James river, opposite Richmond, 

 has a population of 9,246, showing an increase 

 of 61-39 per cent, over 5.729 in 1880. By the 

 United States census, the population of Man- 

 chester magisterial district, including the city, is 

 13,632. Prior to the civil war Manchester was 

 the seat of many tobacco industries ; since then 

 its progress has kept pace with that of Rich- 

 mond. The building improvements were valued 

 at $147,450 during 1890, 155 new houses having 

 been completed. During 1891 the industrial 

 plants erected and under way were valued at 

 $220,000. The shops of the Richmond and Dan- 

 ville and Atlantic Coast Line Railroads are at 

 Manchester, and the city has telephone connec- 

 tion with Richmond, and also with Petersburg, 

 Electric lighting is in use ; river water is pumped 

 to a tower and distributed in abundant supply : 

 a perfect sewage system has been planned. The 

 streets are paved and graded, $100,000 having 

 been" expended for the purpose in 1890. One 

 daily paper is published. The churches for whites 

 number 7, and for colored people 4. The 2 

 public schools, 1 for whites and 1 for colored 

 children, cost $12,000 each, and there are pri- 

 vate schools of high grade,- The manufactures 

 employ 4,500 hands, and include 2 large cot- 

 ton mills, a paper mill, flouring mills, large iron 

 and nail works on Belle Isle, in the rapids of the 

 river, spike mills, 2 large tanneries, 2 sumac 

 and bark mills, large oil works, 5 brick yards, 

 2 planing mills, a mattress factory, 2 sash and 

 blind factories, a very large tobacco factory, 

 fertilizing works, a furniture factory, granite 

 and marble yards, an ice factory and ice-machine 

 manufacturing plant, iron works, a canning and 

 pickling factory, and a large job-printing office. 

 Between the city and Richmond there are 3-J 

 miles of horse and 3 miles of electric railway. 



Meadville, a city, and the capital of Craw- 

 ford County, Pa., on the eastern bank of French 

 creek, and on the New York, Pittsburg and Ohio 

 Railroad, at the junction of the Franklin and 

 Oil City branch and the Meadville and Lines- 

 ville Railway, 82 miles north by west of Pitts- 

 burg, and 34 miles south of Erie. The popula- 

 tion in 1850 was 2,578 ; in 1860, 3,703 : in 1870, 

 7,103 ; in 1880, 8,860 ; and in 1890, 9,502. On 

 the western bank of French creek, opposite 

 Meadville, are the villages of Kerrtown, String- 

 town, and Vallonia borough ; and adjacent on the 

 north, south, and east are villages swelling the 

 population of Meadville proper to about 12,000. 

 It is in a fertile valley, surrounded by beautiful 

 scenery. The extensive shops of the New York, 

 Pittsburg and Ohio Railroad are here, and 

 other important manufacturing interests, among 

 which are boiler and engine works, machine 

 shops, oil supplies, and foundries ; while in 

 the suburbs are glass works, a tannery, 3 

 breweries, and a large whisky distillery. It 

 has 5 banks, and 1 daily and 5 weekly news- 

 papers. The large publishing house of the " Chau- 

 tauquan Magazine" is here, which is third in 

 point of circulation in the United States. The 

 Century Press, in connection with it, was estab- 

 lished herq in 1890, and publishes all the Chau- 

 tauqua books, having also photo-engraving and 



electrotyping departments, and employing 200 

 persons. Meadville has the best of graded public 

 schools, a high school, a business college, a con- 

 servatory of music, and a public library of 5,000 

 volumes. Allegheny College, established here in 

 1816, has 250 students and a library of 12,500 vol- 

 umes. The Meadville Theological School (Unita- 

 rian), established in 1844, has 4 resident and 4 non- 

 resident professors, 30 students, and a library of 

 20,000 volumes. Meadville has 15 churches, 2 

 public hospitals, a system of water works, natural 

 gas for fuel, and 2 electric-light plants. It was 

 founded in 1788, and celebrated its hundredth 

 anniversary in 1888, at which time it erected a 

 pioneer monument on the public square; and in 

 1890 it erected on the same square a soldiers' 

 monument at a cost of $10,000. 



Michigan City, a city of Indiana, the only 

 lake port in the State, in La Porte County, near 

 the southern extremity of Lake Michigan, 56 

 miles east of Chicago, 161 north of Indianapolis, 

 and 12 from Laporte, the county seat. The pop- 

 ulation in 1880 was 7,366 ; in 1890, 10,776, show- 

 ing an increase of 46-29 per cent. Four railroads 

 run through the city, the Michigan Central, the 

 Louisville, New Albany and Chicago, and the 

 Lake Erie and Western, while the Elgin, Joliet 

 and Eastern crosses every road running into 

 Chicago. The site of Michigan City was pur- 

 chased in 1832 by Major Isaac Elston, who sub- 

 sequently realized a fortune by selling to a land 

 company. In 1834 the first cargo of wheat was 

 shipped from the harbor, the improvement of 

 which was undertaken in 1864 by private enter- 

 prise. After the expenditure of $100,526, the work 

 was taken in hand by the United States Govern- 

 ment in 1868. In 1872 the outer or harbor of ref- 

 uge was begun, and in 1874 17,000,000 feet of lum- 

 ber were received by the lake. At present not less 

 than 150,000,000 feet are received, in addition to 

 which amount, in 1889, 50,000 cedar posts, 350 

 cords of wood, 3,000 tons of pig iron, 120,000 

 barrels of salt, and 800 tons of coal were entered 

 as receipts ; while the shipments were 3,000 tons 

 of general merchandise, in addition to hay, oats, 

 sand, soft coal, and cattle. A regular line of 

 steamers carries passengers and freight daily to 

 and from Chicago, and during the summer there 

 are three excursion boats a day. The lumber in- 

 terest has been the most effective in promoting 

 manufacturing industries, the work done in the 

 planing department of one lumber company 

 amounting to upward of $30.000 in 1889. The 

 city is also a great salt market, distributing be- 

 tween 150,000 and 200.000 barrels yearly. The 

 plant owned by the Michigan Salt Association, 

 of East Saginaw, Mich., possesses storage capaci- 

 ty for 50,000 barrels, and shipments are madfe 

 throughout the State, and into Kentucky, Ten- 

 nessee, Missouri, Louisiana, and Texas. The as- 

 sessed valuations of real and personal property 

 aggregate $2,125,265, and there is a bonded debt 

 of $35,000. Two banks have a capital of $375,- 

 000. There are water works and an excellent 

 system of sewage. The streets are paved, and 

 there are both gas and electric lights, as well as 

 the Grarnewell system of fire alarm, 2 telegraph 

 and 2 express companies, a street railway. 2 week- 

 ly, and 2 monthly newspapers. The churches 

 number 10, and there are 1 high and 3 public 

 schools, having a total value of $55,500, for which 



