Rural/Farm Life

Perhaps the railroad system was chosen because it was already seen to be sensible. They could have just as well chosen a four, or ten, or sixteen, mile grid instead.

My state's old maps are filled with "towns" that were laid out on the grid, but may not have actually been built (or they were trading posts for a decade and faded out). But you can't escape the grid here, even in the mountains where the trains didn't go. It was just the system they used to divvy up land out West. Trains or not, the township grid is everywhere.

I knew the Kankakee is in the song "City of New Orleans", but I had to look up where it was. Yep, you got developed before trains.

Six miles is a REALLY short horse ride. I think six miles is a human walking distance. Even a little kid can walk six miles and still have time to get something done that day.