How do Americans end up in small towns?

In 1870, there was an area that had an abundance of a particular resource. A resource we would take for granted today, but in 1870 wasn't so easy to come by. At the time, there was a larger city nearby, and the railroad needed to pass through that city in order to not only deliver certain goods but also to get people from place to place. So this particular area was a good spot to establish a railroad station. Not just for picking up that not-so-easy-to-come-by resource I mentioned earlier, but also for repairs, refueling, etc. Now, a settlement begins to form around this area. People need to gather that not-so-easy-to-come-by resource, after all. And as people begin to populate the area, it begins to develop an identity of its own. Not *just* for that resource, but for other stuff too! This also makes a pretty good area to, for example, get off the train and transfer to a stagecoach, from which you can then journey into better populated areas. By the early 1900s, enough other places have popped up and passenger rail lines are established that this settlement really isn't good for much other than that hard-to-come-by-resource. Except, now, it's not really hard to come by, it's just kind of mildly difficult to come by. But you've had like three or four generations of people living here. Those people can outsource their work elsewhere. But also, this settlement needs workers, too. And so those grandchildren have grandchildren.... and as time goes on, and resources improve, the need to move elsewhere actually lessens. Because you can make do in this area. And it gradually becomes a proper town in its own right. ​ That's just the story of *my* hometown. But I imagine probably most small towns in America are like that. I've since moved away and gone elsewhere, but the vast majority of people I grew up with are still there. And their parents and grandparents all grew up there, too. My maternal grandmother passed away recently, and I found a book she had kept of her family lineage that indicates that probably her family has been in the region since the mid 1800s. I imagine while most families probably didn't keep a record of it like she did, their stories are likely very similar.