 In 1876, a fifth of the former population (then 400 inhabitants) lived in the United States, primarily in California and Nevada.The transformation of the community from a farming village to an industrial center is due to the construction of the Gotthard railway at the end of the 19th century, and the use of water power from the Ticino river, which began in 1911 with the commissioning of the Biaschina-Zentrale powerplant.The availability of large amounts of energy at a low cost, and the presence of an important transport link (the train) induced various industries to settle in the region.