Transportation and the Location of Cities 
21. 
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AREA OF 
Frc. 147. Both Houston and Galveston show what can be done to improve a port. Houston 
sould not be called a seaport if it were not for the ship canal which has been dredged out; and Gal- 
reston has made her harbor bv building breakwaters and jetties. 
How New Orleans is favorably situated. New Orleans is the meet- 
ing point of ocean lines, routes along the Mississippi valley both by 
water and by land, and railroads both from the East and the West. Its 
location on the broad Mississippi, a hundred miles from its mouth, 
gives it a good river harbor, while its commercial hinterland includes 
a large part of the cotton-growing region of the South. Although the 
Mississippi and a number of its tributaries are navigable, the cotton 
is collected almost exclusively by rail. With the increasing use of the 
Panama Canal, the hinterland of New Orleans is being extended to 
include portions of the northern Mississippi valley, and the city’s 
importance is increasing correspondingly. New Orleans exports far 
more than it imports, for the limited wants of the cotton farmers are 
supplied largely by local and northern markets. 
The importance of Galveston as a port. Galveston is by far the 
most important outlet for American cotton. This is largely because 
Texas, its immediate hinterland, raises a fourth or even a third of the 
cotton of the United States. Galveston’s hinterland also furnishes 
exports of wheat, flour, and meat. The city shows what man can do 
in providing shipping facilities if the hinterland is sufficiently produc- 
tive. Galveston was founded on a low, sandy island that separated