Editing Connecticut (section)

====Second industrial revolution====

[[File:Connecticut1895.jpg|thumb|upright=1.75|1895 map from [[Rand McNally]]]]

Connecticut's extensive industry, dense population, flat terrain, and wealth encouraged the construction of railroads starting in 1839. By 1840, {{convert|102|mile|km}} of line were in operation, growing to {{convert|402|mile|km}} in 1850 and {{convert|601|mile|km}} in 1860.<ref>{{cite book |first=Edward Chase |last=Kirkland |title=Men, Cities and Transportation, A Study of New England History 1820–1900 |publisher=Harvard University Press |date=1948 |volume=2 |pages=72–110, 288–306}}</ref>

The [[New York, New Haven and Hartford Railroad]], called the ''New Haven'' or "The Consolidated", became the dominant Connecticut railroad company after 1872. [[J. P. Morgan]] began financing the major New England railroads in the 1890s, dividing territory so that they would not compete. The New Haven purchased 50 smaller companies, including steamship lines, and built a network of light rails (electrified trolleys) that provided inter-urban transportation for all of southern New England. By 1912, the New Haven operated over {{convert|2000|mile|km}} of track with 120,000 employees.<ref>{{cite web |url = http://doddcenter.uconn.edu/asc/findaids/NHRR_Smallformat/MSS19910133.html |title=New York, New Haven & Hartford Railroad Small Format Photograph and Postcard Collection |website=Archives & Special Collections at the Thomas J. Dodd Research Center |publisher=University of Connecticut Libraries |access-date=May 17, 2014 |url-status=dead |archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20130921094350/http://doddcenter.uconn.edu/asc/findaids/NHRR_Smallformat/MSS19910133.html |archive-date=September 21, 2013 }}</ref>

As steam-powered passenger ships proliferated after the Civil War, [[Noank, Connecticut|Noank]] would produce the two largest built in Connecticut during the 19th century, with the 332-foot wooden steam [[steam paddler|paddle wheeler]] ''Rhode Island'' launched in 1882, and the 345-foot paddle wheeler ''Connecticut'' seven years later. Connecticut shipyards would launch more than 165 steam-powered vessels in the 19th century.<ref name="auto"/>

In 1875, the first telephone exchange in the world was established in New Haven.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://connecticuthistory.org/the-first-commercial-telephone-exchange-today-in-history/ |title=First Commercial Telephone Exchange |website=Connecticut History |access-date=May 18, 2014 |archive-date=April 25, 2014 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140425042046/http://connecticuthistory.org/the-first-commercial-telephone-exchange-today-in-history/ |url-status=live }}</ref>