Railroads in Hamlet

Railroads in Hamlet

Hamlet. By definition, a hamlet is a small, desolate town, with less people than a village. In 1931, the town of Hamlet, North Carolina did not fit this description. It in fact was a bustling town full of varied industry and agricultural projects, as depicted in a newspaper article from the Raleigh News and Observer in 1931. In this article, Hamlet is described as being anything but a small, desolate town, showing its importance mainly being in the railroad industry. Though the descriptions in the article, it is easy to see what an important place Hamlet was in 1931 for the Railroad industry.

In the 1920’s, the country was experiencing “the most explosive decade of the century,” or, as it has been called, “The Roaring Twenties” (Wang). Everything great was happening for the country in everything from music to politics and fashion to the stock market. That was until one ‘Black Thursday’ on October 24, 1929 when the stock market crashed (Wang). This started what is now commonly known as The Great Depression. Jobs were lost, people starting starving, suicide was attempted, and the country just started coming to a halt with people being too worn out and depressed to do much of anything. The country stayed this way for almost ten years. It would not be until many years later that Franklin Roosevelt would put in place the New Deal and turn the country back around (Wang). But, through all the stresses and hard times the country was facing, Hamlet seemed to prosper, growing in population size and industrial importance (Hamlet).

In 1900, 4000 miles of railroads crossed over North Carolina in many directions (Trelease 32). The expansion of the railroad system did so much for Nort...

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...ked like back then. Also, a great history of Hamlet is given. This article clears up some misconception of the doom and glom lifestyles that are always associated with the Great Depression. Lastly, this article teaches the lesson of never giving up even when the odds are against you. If you close your eyes and listen, you can almost see the train coming and hear the whistles blowing.

Works Cited

“Hamlet: Important Agricultural Outlet Has Its Own Varied Industries.” News and Observer 20 Dec. 1931 no edition or page number known.

Shelton-Roberts, Cheryl. “The Hamlet Railroad Station.” Our State Jan. 1999: 41-44.

Trelease, Allen. “Railroads in North Carolina, 1900.” Tar Heel Junior Historian Fall 1999: 32-33.

Wang, Henru, Chris Gotterba, and Jeff Wu. “The 1920’s Experience.” 24 Apr. 2002.