How did the growth of the railroad contribute to demographic change in New Mexico

Railroads have an important place in New Mexico's history. When the railroad arrived from the north it immediately took up rapid transport of goods and passengers such as had previously come in along the Santa Fe Trail, fueling a new prosperity and growth in the Territory. A wider variety of people more readily moved into the area, including homesteaders.

The railroads became vital not just along the East-West and North-South corridors, but also because of the many branches and lines which led to lumber, livestock, mineral, and cultural resources. Some of these lines, and whole railway companies, are long gone now, the only traces being some route cuts and embankments and the occasional rusty spike. Towns boomed when a railway came through, and dwindled when the tracks were taken up.

Improved access to Eastern goods had an effect upon not only daily lifestyles but also New Mexican architecture; the ready availability of fired bricks and roofing tin sparked a wave of "Eastern-style" construction in contrast to the utilitarian structures allowed by local materials. (Ironically, most of these buildings, in what would now be termed the Victorian style, where still standing have been remodeled into the Pueblo Revival or Territorial style.)

Railroads were also important in developing tourism in New Mexico, with beautiful advertisements offering the accommodations of Fred Harvey's Houses and the grandeur of the scenery accessible via the Atchison, Topeka and Santa Fe Railway (which, curiously enough, did not directly service Santa Fe, only coming as close as Lamy.) These advertisements had a profound influence on popular perceptions of the American West, worldwide.