Introduction
This journal is an historical account of the Pacific Northwestern town of New Market and it's surrounding area. New Market was settled near the south end of Puget Sound where the Nisqually River drains into the natural harbor of Olympic Bay (Many names are taken from real places in the area, but it is a fictional location and geography rather than a recreation) It is located near where the city of Olympia is in real life, and its history is sort of an amalgam of Seattle, Tacoma and Olympia.
My favorite playstyle for this game is to have a real sense of history for the cities as they develop, so it will start with small towns, and progress to a larger metropolis as the cities develop and grow together. I also like fairly realistic development, so I try to follow historical models for towns and cities in the area, such as:
-tightly gridded town centers
-industry centered around rail and waterways (and preferentially both)
-an economy based (initially at least) on natural resources. Logging, Coal Mining, Farming etc., rather than just zoning up some factories in the middle of nowhere.
I'm using the New Haven Harbor map by tf923, turned upside down, so it will fit into my geography. Also using way too much custom content to even begin listing it , so if you see something of yours you have my thanks. All the great work by people making custom stuff for this game has kept it fresh for many years.
If you're like me, and would like to get your bearings first, there are a bunch of maps on Page 9.
On to some pictures!
New Market is the oldest permament American settlement in the area. Here it is in 1871:
The history of New Market really begins with the California Gold Rush of 1848. Between 1848-1850, the population of San Francisco went from under 1000 to 25000 with no signs of slowing down. Doc Holden, a resident of Vancouver WA realized that a fortune was to be made in lumber and that the virgin forests of the newly acquired Washington Territory was the perfect source, especially with the easy transport accorded by Puget Sound. With the help of some investors and some adventurous families willing to homestead in the new terrirory, he built this sawmill at the mouth of the White River:
The mill was built right on the river so that logs could be floated down the river, and finished lumber could be shipped by boat. A close-up of the main sawmill building:
The mill was a big success as San Fransisco continued to grow (and burn down from time to time), and soon other families and businesses moved to the area. Just above the mill is Main Street. The hotel on the right was actually a bordello, and was the second largest business in town after the mill:
A view of the businesses on Market Street:
This hand-drawn map of the whole town (most of it anyway) was found in some files in the County Clerks office in 1963:
In the fall of 1877, a hot pot of glue was knocked over in the cobbler's shop, and started a fire which burned down most of the town:
Luckily, there were no deaths, and only a few injuries. More importantly, just two years earlier, the Northern Pacific Railroad built a rail between Portland and Tacoma that passed through New Market, so the town soon rebounded and grew even larger than before. We will see the results of this growth in the next chapter.
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