Railroad City

Named for being the end point of several railroad lines, first used in Indianapolis Locomotive, September 1849.^[1]

Railroad City

1. (US, informal, obsolete) Indianapolis.
   • 1870, William Robeson Holloway, Indianapolis. A Historical and Statistical Sketch of the Railroad City, a Chronicle of Its Social, Municipal, Commercial and Manufacturing Progress, with Full Statistical Tables., Indianapolis, Indiana, United States: Indianapolis Journal Print:
   • [1887, “History of Story County, Iowa”, in A history of Story County, Iowa. Carefully Compiled, from the Earliest Settlement to the Present. March 1, 1887., Iowa Printing Company, page 375:

     Railroad City—Indianapolis, Indiana, is sometimes called by this name as being the end or terminus of many railroads]

   • [1920, “Nicknames of U. S. Cities; Races of Mankind.”, in The World Almanac and Encyclopedia, Press Publishing Company, page 402:

     Indianapolis—the Railroad City]

   • [2020 August 3, Rudy Schouten, The Historic Memorial District of Downtown Indianapolis, The History Press, →ISBN:

     The era marked the first in a long line of city initiatives to distinguish itself for its elemental sense of adaptability. Indianapolis became the “Railroad City,” and then, as those tracks began to stretch farther out and crisscross with more density, it became “The Crossroads of America.”]

   • [2021 January 29, Erica L. Bell, “Chapter Three”, in Madam C. J. Walker: The Making of an American Icon, Rowman & Littlefield Publishers, →ISBN, page 49:

     A midwestern railway hub that claimed “the Railroad City” as its nickname, Indianapolis served as a gateway to the South, the Midwest, and the Northeast, making it an attractive choice for a manufacturer who hoped to distribute products nationwide.]

   • [2024 March 5, Jon C. Teaford, Indianapolis: A Concise History, Indiana University Press, →ISBN:

     Boosters in the second half of the nineteenth century justifiably called Indianapolis “the Railroad City.”]