Atlanta

Atlanta exists because an engineer drove a stake into the ground. In 1837, a surveyor chose the spot where Georgia's Western and Atlantic Railroad would terminate—not because of any river, harbor, or natural advantage, but because the mathematics of rail gradients converged there. The settlement that grew around that zero milepost was called, with brutal literalness, 'Terminus.'

By 1854, four rail lines met at that stake, making Atlanta the switching station of the antebellum South. General Sherman understood this too well: in 1864, he burned the city to destroy the Confederacy's logistics network. But you cannot burn a location advantage. Atlanta rebuilt on the same spot, for the same reason—it remained where the lines crossed.

The 20th century added new layers to the hub. Sweet Auburn Avenue became 'the richest Negro street in the world,' nurturing a Black business class that bankrolled the Civil Rights Movement. Martin Luther King Jr. was born here in 1929, founded the Southern Christian Leadership Conference here in 1957, and transformed the nation from an office on Auburn Avenue. Coca-Cola stayed, then Delta, then CNN, then UPS and Home Depot. Each arrival strengthened the network effect that made the next arrival more likely.

Today, Hartsfield-Jackson processes 108 million passengers annually—the world's busiest airport since 1998—because 80% of Americans live within a two-hour flight. Fifteen Fortune 500 companies maintain headquarters here, generating $528 billion in annual revenue. The metro economy exceeds $570 billion. Atlanta's secret is that it has no natural advantages except the one that matters most: once you become the hub, you stay the hub. Every connection makes the next connection more valuable. By 2026, the $11.6 billion ATLNext expansion will push capacity toward 125 million passengers—betting that network effects compound forever.