Kanash
Encyclopedia
Russia
Russia or , officially known as both Russia and the Russian Federation , is a country in northern Eurasia. It is a federal semi-presidential republic, comprising 83 federal subjects...
, located 76 kilometres (47.2 mi) from the republic's capital city
Capital City
Capital City was a television show produced by Euston Films which focused on the lives of investment bankers in London living and working on the corporate trading floor for the fictional international bank Shane-Longman....
of Cheboksary
Cheboksary
-Twin towns/sister cities:Cheboksary is twinned with: Eger in Hungary Antalya in Turkey Santa Clara in CubaAlso Partnerships are shown with: Rundu in Namibia -External links:****...
at a major railway junction. It serves as the administrative center of Kanashsky District
Kanashsky District
Kanashsky District is an administrative and municipal district of the Chuvash Republic, Russia. It is located in the central portion of the republic and borders with Tsivilsky and Krasnarmeysky Districts in the north, Urmarsky and Yantikovsky Districts in the east, Komsomolsky and Ibresinsky...
, although it is not administratively a part of it. Population: Area: 18.5 square kilometres (7.1 sq mi).
Kanash was founded in 1891. Between 1891 and 1925 it was called Shikhrany .
The town's history is closely linked to the development of the railway. The Moscow
Moscow
Moscow is the capital, the most populous city, and the most populous federal subject of Russia. The city is a major political, economic, cultural, scientific, religious, financial, educational, and transportation centre of Russia and the continent...
–Kazan
Kazan
Kazan is the capital and largest city of the Republic of Tatarstan, Russia. With a population of 1,143,546 , it is the eighth most populous city in Russia. Kazan lies at the confluence of the Volga and Kazanka Rivers in European Russia. In April 2009, the Russian Patent Office granted Kazan the...
line was completed, except the Imperatorsky Romanovsky railway bridge across Volga, in December 1884 by private Moscow Ryazan Railway Company which was renamed to Moscow Kazan Railway Company on July 11, 1891, which provided all train service in the area up to 1918, when all the remaining private railways were nationalised by the Bolsheviks. It run from Moscow Kazan Railway station through Kolomna
Kolomna
Kolomna is an ancient city and the administrative center of Kolomensky District of Moscow Oblast, Russia, situated at the confluence of the Moskva and Oka Rivers, southeast of Moscow. The area of the city is about . The city was founded in 1177...
, Ryazan
Ryazan
Ryazan is a city and the administrative center of Ryazan Oblast, Russia. It is located on the Oka River southeast of Moscow. Population: The strategic bomber base Dyagilevo is just west of the city, and the air base of Alexandrovo is to the southeast as is the Ryazan Turlatovo Airport...
, Shilovo
Shilovo
Shilovo may refer to:*Shilovo, Ryazan Oblast, an urban-type settlement in Ryazan Oblast, Russia*Shilovo, Voronezh Oblast, an urban-type settlement in Voronezh Oblast, Russia...
, Sasovo
Sasovo
Sasovo is a town in Ryazan Oblast, Russia, located on the Tsna River southeast of Ryazan. Population: Sasovo was founded in 1642 and granted town status in 1926....
, Kustarevka
Kustarevka
Kustarevka is the name of several rural localities in Russia:*Kustarevka, Republic of Bashkortostan, a village in Tatyshlinsky District of the Republic of Bashkortostan*Kustarevka, Ryazan Oblast, a settlement in Sasovsky District of Ryazan Oblast...
, Arapovo, Ruzayevka
Ruzayevka
Ruzayevka is a town in the Republic of Mordovia, Russia, located on the Insar River, southwest of Saransk. Population: It was founded in 1631 as the village of Urazayevka , later known as Ruzayevka. It was granted town status in 1937....
, Saransk
Saransk
Saransk is a city in central European Russia and the capital of the Republic of Mordovia, as well as its financial and economic center. It is located in the Volga basin at the confluence of the Saranka and Insar Rivers, about east of Moscow...
, and Alatyr
Alatyr (town)
Alatyr is a town in the Chuvash Republic, Russia, located on the Sura River at its confluence with the Alatyr River. Population: 43,161 ; 43,000 ....
. The station of Shikhrany was opened at the site of present-day Kanash, 225 versts (240 km) from Timiryazevo, which was later renamed to Romodanovo, a railway junction in present day Republic of Mordovia
Mordovia
The Republic of Mordovia , also known as Mordvinia, is a federal subject of Russia . Its capital is the city of Saransk. Population: -Geography:The republic is located in the eastern part of the East European Plain of Russia...
. By the time (1913-1914) there were only seven railway stations, Alatyr (119 versts from Timiryazevo), Kirya
Kirya
Kirya was Ofra Haza's 1992 follow-up to the internationally successful Shaday and Desert Wind . Building on her successful blend of European pop and traditional Middle Eastern sounds, the album was a logical next step for Haza...
(155 versts from Timiryazevo), Buynok platform, Ibresi (189 versts from Timiryazevo), Shikhrany (225 versts from Timiryazevo), Urmary (262 versts from Timiryazevo), and Tyurlema (282 versts from Timiryazevo), inside the area which was later to become Chuvashia.
The opening of the station, which was then surrounded by woodland, provided a convenient production point for the timber industry, and windmills were built in the area. In 1911, there were more than forty trading firms in Shikhrany. In 1912, a primary school was opened, and in 1914—a middle school. In 1919, Shikhrany station became a railway junction, when the Arzamas
Arzamas
Arzamas is a city in Nizhny Novgorod Oblast, Russia, located on the Tyosha River , east of Moscow. Population: -History:Arzamas was founded in 1578 by Ivan the Terrible in the lands populated at the time by the Mordvin people...
–Shikhrany line (245 versts), which had been under construction from 1914, when the last section was completed from River Tsarkli bridge to Shihrany, and opened to full traffic. (The line had been in restricted use with limited car loads since summer 1917.)
By 1925, when Kanash was granted town status, its population was 2,323.
A second station was built in 1926 for goods transit. The first power station, which supplied electricity to the railway station, portions of the town, and thirteen nearby villages, was constructed in 1929.
Construction of the Kanash–Cheboksary line began in 1939, bringing the number of lines connecting Kanash up to four.
During World War II
World War II
World War II, or the Second World War , was a global conflict lasting from 1939 to 1945, involving most of the world's nations—including all of the great powers—eventually forming two opposing military alliances: the Allies and the Axis...
, railway production facilities and transit capacity were substantially increased.
From the 1950s to the 1970s, local industry was diversified. Factories producing furniture, tools, polymers, and plastics, and car repair factories were built.