I met someone whose ancestors lived in Missouri clearing the swamps. Those swamp trees made good railroad ties. And then creosote was introduced and the ties lasted ten times as long, so demand crashed over the next few years as the old ties were swapped out one last time.

As near as I can tell the economy never recovered. They grew cotton but that’s mostly overseas now too, and at any rate means arsenic accumulation.

Some people were trying to engineer a strain of rice that absorbs less arsenic. Apparently cotton and rice growing conditions overlap enough that this is a potential option.