It starts with a borrowed $100, a stubborn teenager, and a ferry that never slept. From there, the Vanderbilt story runs fast—from Cornelius Vanderbilt’s ruthless rise through ferries, steamships, and railroads to the cultural institutions and monuments the family later built to soften the edges.
We end where the money thins and the question sharpens: can libraries, opera houses, and grand estates ever balance out the damage done on the way up? Hero or Dick? The answer isn’t clean—and that tension may be the real legacy.
Thanks, as always for listening!
~ Kate & KJ
