Company town
A company town is a town or city in which all or almost all real estate, buildings (both residential and commercial), utilities, hospitals, small businesses such as grocery stores and gas stations, and other necessities or luxuries of life within its borders are owned by a single company. Company towns were formed by the transcontinental railroads, which bought tracts of land flanking their right-of-way before deciding where to site stations. Other traditional settings for company towns were where extractive industries — coal, metal mines, corporate timber — had purchased a monopoly franchise. Dam sites and war-industry camps founded other company towns.
Typically, a company town will be isolated from neighbors and centered (figuratively, if not literally) around a large production factory such as a lumber or steel mill or an automobile plant; and the citizens of the town will either work in the factory, work in one of the smaller businesses, or be a family member of someone who does. The company may also operate parks, host cultural events such as concerts, and so on. Needless to say, when the owning company cuts back or goes out of business, the economic effect on the company town is devastating, and often fatal.
Company towns sometimes become regular public cities and towns as they grow. Other times, a town may not officially be a company town, but it may be a town where the majority of citizens are employed by a single company, thus creating a similar situation to a company town (especially in regard to the town's economy).
See also: paternalism.
List of former and present company towns
- Ajo, Arizona
- Alcoa, Tennessee, owned by Alcoa
- Chester, California
- Espanola, Ontario, owned by Domtar
- Port Gamble, Washington, owned by Pope & Talbot
- Scotia, California, owned by the Pacific Lumber Company (PALCO)
- Lake Buena Vista, Florida, Bay Lake, Florida, and the Reedy Creek Improvement District located within Walt Disney World and owned by the Disney Corporation
- Springfield: the fictional setting of The Simpsons, owned by the Springfield Nuclear Power Plant
Reference
