How far you could get from New York in one day—back in the day

Quartz: How far you could get from New York in one day—back in the day. (1800 vs. 1934)

We like to think of the 20th century as a time of unprecedented change. But was the change of the 19th century even more profound? Geology and evolution changed our perception of deep history. People and information were liberated to move across the land at speeds faster than a horse. Human productivity exploded. Some would make the case that most change since that time has merely been an extension of nineteenth century changes from the ancient order of things. The map is a great illustration of the radical change that happened in transportation.