Ah... the Gilded Age: progress, industrialization, economic struggles, and the shaping of a modern U.S. Use the National Park's "Teaching with Historic Places" guide to the Progressive era: https://www.nps.gov/articles/gilded-age-progressive-era-history-teaching-with-historic-places.htm to jumpstart student thinking.
Here's a sample of how one might teach the idea of 'place' using Thomas Edison's West Orange Research facility: https://www.nps.gov/teachers/classrooms/25edison.htm. Students interested in science, invention, and history can find much to use here.
Progress and safety: investigate the Triangle Shirtwaist Factory Fire https://www.nps.gov/places/triangle-shirtwaist-factory-brown-building.htm as an example of the growth of factories, business, and employment in the early 20th Century.