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Once the transcontinental railroad was completed in 1869, the Eads bridge was completed in 1874, and the prosperity of the United States skyrocketed in this post-Civil War era, enormous wealth was created by the railroads in transporting goods and people nationwide.

Once the transcontinental railroad was completed in 1869, the Eads bridge was completed in 1874, and the prosperity of the United States skyrocketed in this post-Civil War era, enormous wealth was created by the railroads in transporting goods and people nationwide.

Cornelius Vanderbilt became the richest man in the world in the 1870s, from the railroads and shipping.  Decades earlier beginning at the age of only 11, Vanderbilt quit school in order to work with his father to transport cargo and people by ferry boat between Staten Island and Manhattan.  Through tremendous hard work and shrewd business practices he amassed a fortune which culminated in his acquisition and management of several railroad lines.  He built Grand Central Station in Manhattan, which is a railroad terminal for millions of travelers today.

Vanderbilt became the second richest man in world history, after John D. Rockefeller (discussed below).  Many decades earlier, beginning at the age of only 11, Vanderbilt quit school in order to work with his father to transport cargo and people by ferry boat between Staten Island and Manhattan.  Through tremendous hard work and shrewd business practices he amassed a fortune which culminated in his acquisition and management of several railroad lines.  He built Grand Central Station in Manhattan, which is a railroad terminal for millions of travelers today.

His youngest son, George Washington Vanderbilt III, considered to have been his father's favorite although not given the bulk of his fortune,  was an art collector who built in the 1880s the largest private home in the United States, which continues to hold that record to this day.  It has 250 rooms and is located in Western North Carolina and is called the Biltmore Estate. Nearly a hundred times bigger than the homes of average Americans, this home symbolizes the excesses of the "Gilded Age" criticized by Mark Twain. The intent was to replicate the design of European mansions and estates.

It was not until the age of 70 that Vanderbilt greatly expanded his fortune by focusing heavily on the growing importance of the railroads.  First he acquired the New York & Harlem and Hudson Line, and then obtained control of the New York Central Railroad through the kind of uncharitable business tactic that was common both then and today. A very cold winter had frozen the Erie Canal, and Vanderbilt refused to accept passengers or freight from New York Central Railroad, which severed its connection to the West. Stuck, that railroad capitulated to Vanderbilt's demands that he be allowed to buy a controlling interest in New York Central Railroad, and from that position he was able to nearly monopolize railroad transportation from New York City to Chicago.  

[[File:Biltmore Estate.jpg|300px|right|thumb|The Biltmore Estate of the Vanderbilt family in North Carolina, still the largest private home in the United States having nearly 179,000 square feet]]

 

Cornelius Vanderbilt himself was a crude, unrefined man who was never accepted by higher society.  He donated relatively little to charity, with the exception of his donation to the Methodist Church in Tennessee which was used to build Vanderbilt University.  Instead Vanderbilt left almost his entire fortune to his eldest son, giving relatively little to the rest of his many children.

[[File:Biltmore Estate.jpg|300px|right|thumb|The Biltmore Estate of the Vanderbilt family in North Carolina, still the largest private home in the United States having 250 rooms and nearly 179,000 square feet]]

Vanderbilt himself was a crude, unrefined man who was never accepted by the elite in high society.  He donated relatively little to charity, with the exception of his donation to the Methodist Church in Tennessee which was used to build Vanderbilt University.  Instead Vanderbilt left almost his entire fortune to his eldest son, giving relatively little to the rest of his many children.

But Vanderbilt is credited with establishing the foundation for modern transportation today, with trains that ran on time and served the public both in carrying freight and passengers.  He used new technologies in a shrewd but honest way, and devised methods of business organization which are still used today.

But Vanderbilt is credited with establishing the foundation for modern transportation today, with trains that ran on time and served the public both in carrying freight and passengers.  He used new technologies in a shrewd but honest way, and devised methods of business organization which are still used today.