An example of lightning-like displacement of population is
afforded by the steel and iron center at Granite City and Madison,
Illinois. The two towns are practically one industrial community,
although they have separate municipal organizations. A steel mill was
erected in 1892 upon the open prairies, and in it American, Welsh,
Irish, English, German, and Polish workmen were employed. In 1900
Slovaks were brought in, and two years later there came large numbers
of Magyars, followed by Croatians. In 1905 Bulgarians began to arrive,
and within two years over eight thousand had assembled. Armenians,
Servians, Greeks, Magyars, every ethnic faction found in the racial
welter of southeastern Europe, is represented among the twenty
thousand inhabitants that dwell in this new industrial town. In
"Hungary Hollow" these race fragments isolate themselves, effectively
insulated against the currents of American influence.
The mining communities reveal this relative displacement of races in
its most disheartening form. As early as 1820 coal was taken from the
anthracite veins of northeastern Pennsylvania, but until 1880 the
industry was dominated by Americans and north Europeans. In 1870 out
of 108,000 foreign born in this region, 105,000 or over ninety-seven
per cent came from England, Wales, Scotland, Ireland, and Germany.
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