The Incredible 20th Century -- Site Selection magazine, January 2000

1900-10
Living in the Third World

1910-20
Lull Before the
Storm, Thunder in
the Background

1920-30
The Automobile
Age Begins

1930-40
The great Depression Brings a New
Federal Role

1940-50
WWII - A Leap Forward
in Technology

1950-60
Planned
Economic Development
Becomes Important

1960-70
Jet Service,
Space Program
Stir Global Thinking

1970-80
Environment Recognized
as a Major Factor

1980-90
The Emergence of a High-Tech Society and a New World Order

1990-2000
Super Projects,
True Global Systems
and Futurism

A S S E S S I N G T H E 2 0 T H C E N T U R Y

b y M c K I N L E Y C O N W A Y

We have just completed the most fantastic century in the history of economic development. Great new industries have created millions of new jobs and opened vast new areas of opportunity. What were the most significant developments? How did they come about? What do they mean for the future? Here is an analysis by Site Selection's publisher, who has authored several dozen books and more than 500 reports
on the subject during the past 50 years.

1900-10: Living in The Third World!
The pattern of living in the USA in 1900 was in many ways very similar to the pattern we find in the Third World today. There was one lifestyle in the cities and another very different one in the hinterland.

Those who lived in the cities had schools, transit service, newspapers, theaters and other cultural attractions. Those who lived in the country were isolated, lacking communications, medical services, transportation and utilities. Most had a very basic, if not primitive, lifestyle.

Riverboats, thousands of them, were the key transport units. One could buy a ticket from Pittsburgh to New Orleans. Railroads were developing rapidly.

Some indication of the lifestyle of that time is indicated by these listings from a 1900 Sears Roebuck catalog:

Piano: US$89

Two-seat buggy (horse not included): $39.95

Double barrel shotgun: $18.75

Rocking chair: $2.15

Iron bed, spring and mattress: $7.95

Typewriter: $22.95

Cotton work shirt: 38 cents

Development got off to a fast start in 1901 with the Spindletop oil discovery near Beaumont, Texas. No one knew it, but the great petrochemical development along the Gulf Coast was on its way.

The first trans-Atlantic wireless transmissions were achieved by a young Italian named Marconi. He sent signals from England to Newfoundland by lifting a transmitter aloft in a hot-air balloon.

The first motion pictures appeared. They were silent, black and white and primitive. Yet they attracted immediate attention, and it was evident that the public would have a strong appetite for improved films.

This was not the case for aviation. In 1903 the Wright brothers made their first flight at Kitty Hawk, and the feat was almost totally ignored. It was 1909 before the U.S. Army contracted with the Wrights to build an airplane that would go at least 40 miles an hour. The contract price was $25,000.

In 1907 Standard Oil opened the first service station near Seattle. It consisted of an open shed, a 30-gallon (118-liter) tank and a garden hose. In 1908 Ford introduced the Model T.

In 1908 the first skyscraper in the United States, the Singer Building in New York, was opened. It was 47 stories tall.

When we look back on these events -- few of which received much notice at the time -- we can better appreciate their significance. While the first decade brought no big and immediate changes, the seeds were planted for such great new industries as automobiles, aviation and motion pictures. Within a few decades, these would have an enormous impact.

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