Dr. Clay McShane
Professor at Northeastern University
Author of The Horse in the City: Living Machines in the 19th Century
Dr. Clay McShane. Northeastern University.
Please explain your area of expertise on the subject of horses in cities and the manure crisis that eventually led to a change in transportation.
"My current research deals with with the horse in nineteenth-century American cities. Co-authored the book The Horse in the City: Living Machines in the Nineteenth Century plus numerous essays on the subject: 'The Ignored Urban Species: Horses in American and European Metropoles: Paris, New York, and Berlin, 1850-1900' and 'Decline of the Urban Horse in American Cities' to name a few. Professor of History at Northeastern University, with courses on the History of Automobile and History of Animal-Human relations, among others."
Why is it often referred to as the “Great Horse Manure Crisis of 1894”? Why was that year a significant turning point when it came to the use of horses for transportation in cities?
"To the extent that there was a crisis in 1894, it was because manure prices were declining with the introduction of phosphate fertilizers. Before the manure crisis, horse manure generated income since manure was a valued fertilizer. With the introduction of phosphate fertilizers, there were diminished incentives to clean stables and streets. The manure piled up as supply exceeded demand. There may also have been a specific mismanagement issue in New York City."
"My current research deals with with the horse in nineteenth-century American cities. Co-authored the book The Horse in the City: Living Machines in the Nineteenth Century plus numerous essays on the subject: 'The Ignored Urban Species: Horses in American and European Metropoles: Paris, New York, and Berlin, 1850-1900' and 'Decline of the Urban Horse in American Cities' to name a few. Professor of History at Northeastern University, with courses on the History of Automobile and History of Animal-Human relations, among others."
Why is it often referred to as the “Great Horse Manure Crisis of 1894”? Why was that year a significant turning point when it came to the use of horses for transportation in cities?
"To the extent that there was a crisis in 1894, it was because manure prices were declining with the introduction of phosphate fertilizers. Before the manure crisis, horse manure generated income since manure was a valued fertilizer. With the introduction of phosphate fertilizers, there were diminished incentives to clean stables and streets. The manure piled up as supply exceeded demand. There may also have been a specific mismanagement issue in New York City."
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The Horse in the City. Amazon.
In your opinion, what was the biggest factor or tipping point when it came to horses for transportation as cities continued to grow more concentrated?
"Horse use grew greatly in the 1850s, the 'tipping point.' People did not want to walk the longer distances required by suburbanization. The new, national railroad network brought more freight into the cities than human labor could move. Two-horse wagons were used in the 1850s to haul lighter freight, while more and more horses were used to haul heavier loads. The increased need for horses only compounded the manure problem."
How is it that horses or “living machines” provided an acceptable mode of transportation for thousands of years, but could not longer fulfill that role as we moved into the 20th century?
"In the 1850s and 1860s horses triumphed over all other forms of transportation, including over steam power for local transport. Steam engines were smoky and sometimes exploded. In the 1890-1900 era, the opposite happened. While earlier steam power seemed more dangerous than horses, electric power and gasoline seemed safer."
"Horse use grew greatly in the 1850s, the 'tipping point.' People did not want to walk the longer distances required by suburbanization. The new, national railroad network brought more freight into the cities than human labor could move. Two-horse wagons were used in the 1850s to haul lighter freight, while more and more horses were used to haul heavier loads. The increased need for horses only compounded the manure problem."
How is it that horses or “living machines” provided an acceptable mode of transportation for thousands of years, but could not longer fulfill that role as we moved into the 20th century?
"In the 1850s and 1860s horses triumphed over all other forms of transportation, including over steam power for local transport. Steam engines were smoky and sometimes exploded. In the 1890-1900 era, the opposite happened. While earlier steam power seemed more dangerous than horses, electric power and gasoline seemed safer."
McShane, Clay. Email. 19 March 2012.