Geography of Ohio 
179 
Railways and population centers. Most of the early rail- 
roads of Ohio were responses to industrial needs outside of the 
state; the canals were entirely of local origin. Because of this 
fact, the railways took courses which were not always of the 
greatest convenience to Ohio. In the main, they were built to 
connect places on either side of Ohio, and they crossed the state 
more often at the convenience of the terminal points. Never- 
theless, certain centers of population came into existence purely 
because of the railroads. The northern part of the state, the 
southern part, and later the central part, were crossed by rail- 
ways. Somewhat later the interests of people in Ohio led to the 
construction of north-south railways, which proved a benefit 
to many towns that hitherto had been left aside, and brought into 
existence several new towns. 
A railroad, topographically located, in passing through Licking 
county, must cross the immediate environs of Newark. The 
railroad entrances to Licking county, that is, the valleys, lead 
to Newark; therefore, Newark was destined by nature to be the 
most densely settled section of that county. At the confluences 
of valleys modern industry enlarges on the advantages that 
appealed to the pioneer; later, railroads converge at such points. 
The shipping facilities of such a location tend to make the popu- 
lation more dense. Newark has natural advantages which few 
other places in central Ohio possess. 
Influence of political convenience. Another factor in creating 
centers of population is political convenience. To this factor 
Columbus owes much of its initial development. It is near the 
center of the state, is accessible physiographically, and therefore 
the correct location for the legal business of the commonwealth. 
But in the earlier decades, very few of the factors discussed above 
were operative in the development of a city at Columbus. Two 
other places were tried as the capital of Ohio, but, as settlements 
spread over the state, the location of the capital was changed 
because these places were not central. 
In several counties of Ohio one wonders now at the location of 
the county-seats; they may be geographically central in relation 
to the highways of the county, and were probably convenient when 
the population was evenly distributed and travel was by horse- 
back or in carriages. But recent decades have witnessed a marked 
redistribution of the population, and the construction of modern 
