During the Industrial Revolution in the U.S., how did industry affect the formation of inter-relationship of the cities?

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Of course, one of the major effects of the Industrial Revolution in the United States (as elsewhere) was urbanization, or the rapid growth of cities. But industrial growth also connected cities together in ways previously unimaginable. This was largely because of railroads, the expansion of which was a crucial aspect of industrialization. Cities previously linked only by roads or canals were now linked by rail lines, which could carry much more freight much faster than ever before. Additionally, new forms of communication, also associated with industrialization, emerged. The telegraph, developed before the Civil War, linked cities together by allowing information to spread almost instantly. This, in turn, connected financial markets in the cities, especially New York, to investors in other cities. These developments marked a transportation and communications revolution that accompanied industrialization. Industry provided the stimulus for these developments, which in turn facilitated even more rapid industrial growth.

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