As the railroad spread out across the prairie from Chicago, they created a new type of settlement pattern in the sur­rounding townships. In some areas the dense urban pattern of land use closely followed the right of way creating a string of railroad suburbs. In other areas away from the tracks, the land was used mainly for agricultural purposes. Small rural villages appeared here and there at cross-roads, but settlement would thicken in these areas only with the extension of streetcar routes from the city or, much later, with the wide­spread use of automobiles.