The Industrial Revolution, along with free land, created fierce competition among American railroad companies to connect the country with a web of track. Goods, as well as people, needed to be transported. The railroads would create towns, then profit from the sale of the land and transporting of people and goods. The plan worked brilliantly, as there were no other means of transportation—or roads—to these new communities. Aberdeen, platted in 1881, was known as an "end of line" stop for several years. During this time, the town boomed into a city. Main Street sprawled southward, and wooden boomtown businesses were quickly replaced with elaborate brick buildings, some six stories tall. Examples of Aberdeen's eclectic style of architecture, spanning nearly 60 years, can be found within Images of America: Aberdeen. Many of these treasures still exist today; others, along with their lost stories, are forever preserved here.