New Town Post Industrial Revolution By Industrialists

1. Jamshedpur, India

 The city of Jamshedpur was born out of the visions of the famous industrialist, J.R.D.
Tata. During one of his business visits to Manchester, he got influenced by the thoughts
of Thomas Carlyle who said “"the nation which gains control of iron soon acquires the
control of gold".
 He thereby envisioned India to have a strong foothold in steel production as this could
boom the economy largely. In his quest to build the best steel plant, at the turn of the
twentieth century, he got in touch with geologist Charles Page Perin to locate the most
suitable site to build India's first steel plant.
 In April 1904, a three member team of Dorabji Tata, Shapurji Saklatvala and C. M. Weld,
took up the challenge and went on the arduous journey to locate a site that was rich in
iron, coal, limestone and water. Their search ended as they reached called Sakchi, a
village located at the densely forested stretches of the Chota Nagpur plateau.
 Located near the convergence of the Subarnarekha and Kharkai rivers, it was the ideal
choice for the plant. The construction of the plant began in 1908. When the plant rolled
its first steel ingot on 16 February 1912, the industrial India added a new milestone to its
history.
 J.R.D. Tata was an empathetic businessman and believed in growing collaboratively. He
decided to build a well-planned city for the workers in the plant as well. He stressed on
providing all comforts a city could provide.
 Messrs Julin Kennedy Sahlin from Pittsburgh prepared the first layout of the town of
Jamshedpur and his visions resulted in the formation of the well-planned city of
Jamshedpur, which included numerous conveniences and public leisure places such as
the Jubilee Park, lawns, gardens etc.

2. Lowell, Massachusetts

 Located about 30 miles north of Boston, Lowell, Massachusetts, is considered the first
planned company town in the United States. The town was incorporated in 1826, four
years after the first large textile mill was built on the site. The location was chosen
because of the proximity to a waterfall required to power the looms in the mills. The
founders of the town recruited young, single women from rural areas to work in the
 textile mills. They lived in boarding houses and, once in Lowell, were expected to lead a
“moral” life, which included going to church.

 Eventually, boarding houses fell out of favor for native-born Americans in Lowell and

across the country, and after the Civil War were used primarily as housing for
immigrants working in the mill. But by the end of the 19th century, immigrants were not
as interested in company housing, and the Lowell boarding houses had to take in people
who weren’t mill employees in order to stay afloat.

 The corporations later sold off the boarding houses, and they were either demolished or
converted into tenement apartments. By the 1960s the mills no longer operated, and
local groups stepped in to ensure that the former company town was preserved.
The National Park Service took over in 1978, and today offers a range of exhibits and
tours for those interested in learning about the town’s history.

3. Scotia, California
 Take one look at the well-designed wooden structures in Scotia, California, and it’s clear
that it benefits from being a town founded by a lumber company. The Pacific Lumber
Company started operating in the area in the early 1880s, and by 1884 had built a
bunkhouse for employees.
 By 1887, the town had grown to include approximately 100 houses. A hotel was built
shortly thereafter, providing accommodation for people visiting what was then the
world’s largest redwood sawmill. Scotia continued to expand in the early part of the
20th century, adding a school, theater, bank and hospital. By 1929, the population
reached 1,000.
 A large shopping center was built in 1950, though it was destroyed by a 1992
earthquake and rebuilt in 1994. The longtime owners of the Pacific Lumber Company
sold it in the 1980s, and in 2007 it went bankrupt. In 2011 the residents of Scotia
voted to become a self-governing town and its first elected officials took office in 2014.
 Since then, people have been drawn to Scotia’s natural setting and classic architecture
both as new residents as well as visitors.