Çorum in the Early Republic (1923-1950): Transport, Economy and Population

Between 1923 and 1950, Çorum’s administrative status changed — it became an independent sanjak in 1921 and a province (il) in 1924 — while its transport and economic structure largely retained the pattern inherited from the 19th century. This page summarises the transport, economic and population developments of the period, based on Chapter 5 of Çorum Tarihi (“1923-1950 Döneminde Çorum’daki Gelişmeler” — Developments in Çorum, 1923-1950), written by İlhan Tekeli; the city’s urban planning, electricity, water, health and education infrastructure are covered on a separate page. For current transport options, see How to Get to Çorum?.

Administrative Status and the Road Network

Until 1921, Çorum was a sanjak centre attached to Ankara province; that year it became an independent sanjak, and in 1924 it became a province, to which Alaca, Sungurlu, Osmancık, Mecitözü and İskilip were attached (Çorum Tarihi, p. 234). In the 19th century, Çorum was a second-tier centre on the road running from Samsun into Central Anatolia; in the Republican period, its road network was shaped by three factors: Ankara’s selection as capital (which raised the importance of the Çorum-Sungurlu road), railway investment, and growing integration of the domestic market (Çorum Tarihi, p. 234-236).

Railway Projects and Roads

Çorum was never directly connected to the railway during this period. When the Ankara-Kayseri line was completed in 1927, the station of Çerikli on that line became Çorum’s point of access to the rail network, and the Çorum-Çerikli road (130 km in 1933, later reduced to 120 km) became the focus of investment. The Samsun-Amasya-Sivas line, completed in 1932, came close to Çorum via Amasya and Havza. According to the book, two projects intended to connect Çorum directly to the railway — a Çerikli-Sungurlu-Alaca-Amasya line, and a Samsun-Tosya-Merzifon-Amasya line that bypassed Çorum entirely — were never realised (Çorum Tarihi, p. 235-236).

Road-building remained largely stagnant between 1935 and 1948 (total road length staying in the range of 400-450 km), with investment focused mainly on maintaining the existing network. In 1944 the Ankara-Kırıkkale-Çerikli road was tendered as a state road, and by 1949 the Samsun-Çorum-Çerikli route was among the roads placed under state maintenance (Çorum Tarihi, p. 236-237).

From Cart to Truck

According to the book, until 1946 transport in Çorum relied mainly on horse-drawn carts and camel, mule and donkey caravans; towns had separate caravanserais specialising in carters, camel drivers, muleteers and donkey drivers. A cart journey from Çorum to Samsun took one day in summer but nine in winter; Çorum to Ankara took six days. Hıfzı Veldet Velidedeoğlu recalled in his memoirs that his uncle, known as “Postacı Ali Ağa” (Ali Ağa the Postman), ran a weekly mail-cart service between Çorum and Samsun (Çorum Tarihi, p. 237-239).

The 1929 global economic crisis slowed the arrival of motor vehicles; the real breakthrough came with trucks after the Second World War — the increase in truck numbers in Çorum between 1945 and 1948 was, in capacity terms, enough to replace all the horse-drawn carts. The first truck operators were Evliyalar and Poyraz; the first regular service to Çerikli was run by Şevket Efendi’s Ford “kaptı-kaçtı” vehicles, a service later taken over by bus companies founded in 1945. The municipality began running the first in-town bus service in 1947-1948 (Çorum Tarihi, p. 239-240).

Communications

Çorum’s first telephone system was installed between 1913 and 1915 under governor Nurettin Bey, connecting the police force to the district towns. In 1934 the post office began accepting international telegraph traffic, and telephone links opened the same year to Samsun, Amasya, Yozgat, Alaca, Sungurlu, Mecitözü, Osmancık and İskilip. Radio sets began to spread in the late 1930s; the number of registered radios in the province rose from 359 in 1942 to 1,483 by 1950 (Çorum Tarihi, p. 241).

Farming: Çorum’s Wheat Advantage

Çorum’s economy during this period was overwhelmingly agricultural, and farming technology relied on a local plough type known as the “canik sabanı,” drawn by oxen; from the 1930s, government incentives brought the spread of ploughs (especially German Rutzak ploughs). According to research by Mirza Gökgöl, average wheat yield in Turkey between 1927 and 1933 was 85 kg per dönüm, while in Çorum it reached 138 kg — according to the book, the highest wheat yield anywhere in Turkey at the time. With an average annual output of 88,000 tons, Çorum ranked sixth in Turkey in wheat production (first place, Konya, produced 109,000 tons but from a far larger cultivated area); hard wheat made up 50-80 percent of total wheat production (Çorum Tarihi, p. 242-244).

From 1937, the Ministry of Agriculture introduced Mentane wheat (known locally as “bintane”) to Çorum, yielding fifteen-fold returns in trial plots at Hıdırlık, Salor and the Keykoca villages of Mecitözü. In opium production, Çorum was, together with Amasya, Tokat and Gümüşhacıköy, among the regions growing high-morphine “soft opium,” and was exempted from the 1933-1934 cultivation restrictions. In livestock, Çorum was among Turkey’s leading provinces for sheep and cattle numbers before the Second World War; breeds were mostly local (Akkaraman and Amasya hereği sheep, local and Plevna-cross cattle), and an attempt in the 1940s to introduce merino sheep failed to take hold (Çorum Tarihi, p. 244-246).

Industry and Trade

According to the 1927 industrial census, 1,161 people worked in industry in central Çorum; the largest share was in food processing (including roasted chickpea production), followed by metalworking (coppersmiths and blacksmiths), weaving and woodworking. The town’s first motor-powered factory was the municipal electricity plant, founded in 1924, followed by a sawmill in 1926. The Hatap Flour Mill, founded in 1932 by Tütüncülerin Şükrü Efendi, and a weaving factory founded in 1933 by Mustafa Burhanoğlu, producing “alaca” cloth, were the period’s main new industrial ventures. Home weaving revived during the Second World War as imports were cut off; by 1950 the town had 486 household looms, and a Weavers’ Cooperative founded in 1942 distributed yarn to households and marketed the cloth. In 1942 the provincial Special Administration began working the Dodurga lignite deposits between Osmancık and İskilip, extracting 400 tons of coal in the first year (Çorum Tarihi, p. 248-250).

Çorum’s Chamber of Commerce and Industry was founded on 29 November 1913 with 12 members, growing to 49 members by 1923. By 1927 the town already had modern sales organisations such as a Singer sewing-machine dealership. Banking, by contrast, remained undeveloped: apart from Ziraat Bankası, an Ottoman Bank branch opened in March 1927 closed in 1932, and no other bank branch opened in Çorum until 1950 (Çorum Tarihi, p. 250-251).

Population Trends

According to the figures given in the book, Çorum’s provincial population rose from 247,926 in 1927 to 341,353 in 1950, while the town’s (central) population rose from 19,664 to 22,833 over the same period — an increase that lagged behind both the national average and the growth rate of Çorum’s own rural population. The book attributes this to Ankara’s growth drawing migrants away from Çorum, and to the town’s partial loss of control over its rural hinterland’s agricultural surplus to other centres (Çorum Tarihi, p. 247-248).

Sources

• Çorum Tarihi (Çorum History), 5th Hittite Festival Committee; ed. Çorum Municipality City Archive, 3rd ed., Çorum Belediyesi Kültür Yayını, Çorum 2020, ISBN 978-605-84272-4-2 — Chapter 5, “1923-1950 Döneminde Çorum’daki Gelişmeler” (İlhan Tekeli), p. 231-252. https://www.corum.bel.tr/public/uploads/2026/01/corumtarihi.pdf

Frequently asked questions

Did attempts to connect Çorum to the railway network succeed?

No. According to the book, two Republican-era projects to connect Çorum directly to the railway — a Çerikli-Sungurlu-Alaca-Amasya line and a Samsun-Tosya-Merzifon-Amasya line that would have bypassed Çorum — were both proposed but never built. Çorum's nearest station was Çerikli, on the Ankara-Kayseri line.

Where did Çorum rank in Turkey's wheat production in 1927?

According to the book, Çorum ranked sixth in Turkey in wheat production between 1927 and 1933, with an average annual output of 88,000 tons, while achieving the country's highest wheat yield per unit of land, at 138 kg per dönüm.