Like Galveston, which was going great guns until the 1900 hurricane. Or Toledo. Or New Haven, Connecticut.
That would make for a terrific book.
Call it Boomtown, and recount the sad stories of half a dozen cities who missed out on their chance to be major. Bad luck, diverted railways, new shipping lanes--there's no end to the reasons. I want to read about what happened and see the lofty pronouncements of the days when the future seemed so bright.