In the early 20th century, hundreds of company towns dotted America—quasi-public municipalities where the corporation you worked for built your house, taught your kids, maintained your roads and sewers, and even sold you groceries. Such towns once contained 3 percent of the U.S. population, according to the Economist.
As the country’s workforce became more mobile and prosperity rose, on-site worker housing became less necessary; most of the old company towns have evolved into places separate from their corporate patrons.
