How long did it take to get from New York to California in the 1800s?
We know that it took them around 4-5 months, that is between 120-170 days (depending on where in California). In 1861, the Pony Express (or lone horse riders) claimed that it would take 10 days to deliver letters from New York to Sacramento.
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By 1850, the fastest and most popular sea route consisted of three parts: a steamship from New York to Chagres; overland across the Isthmus; and a steamship from Panama City to San Francisco. Over 6,000 miles and 33 to 35 days, travelers faced malaria, yellow-fever, and highway robbers.
1860s Steamship-Railroad-Steamship: 25-30 days.The New Orleans-San Francisco trip took twenty-five days, while the New York-San Francisco trip took 30 days.
By 1857, which is still within one lifetime from someone born around 1800, travel by rail (the fastest way to get around at the time — remember that the Wright brothers were not even born yet and air travel was far off in the future) had gotten significantly faster.
Was it possible to fly commercially non-stop from New York City to Los Angeles in 1950; and, if so, what airline(s) offered the service and how long did the flight take? United Airlines were operating nonstop flights LA to NY (and SF to NY) in 1954. Flight time was 7 hrs 15 min eastbound and 7 hrs 55 min westbound.
In 1958, that Cessna 172 flew nonstop for 64 days, 22 hours and 19 minutes and covered 150,000 miles (240,000 kilometers). That's about six times around the Earth or 15 Sydney-New York flights without touching the ground, and still stands as a world record, according to the Guinness World Records.
The 1900s was all about that horse-and-carriage travel life. Horse-drawn carriages were the most popular mode of transport, as it was before cars came onto the scene. In fact, roadways were not plentiful in the 1900s, so most travelers would follow the waterways (primarily rivers) to reach their destinations.