Disagree. By this past century we were on top as far as development was concerned. (I'm not counting world-POWER status.) We were far advanced compared to almost all - by that period we owned most of the great inventions and monopolized on innovation. It was just our unlimited system that put it to that point.
The industrial rev in the US was already some 70 years old. The railroads were 2nd to none - on a HUGE country. That's plenty of time before 1900 to have great influence.
BTW, the SF earthquake was 1906. Not that I understand what natural disasters have to do w/status!
It's true that our railroads were second to none (by a factor of ten times in terms of trackage), but it might surprise you to know that in 1910 Russia was number two and had more track than Canada, Britain, France, or Germany.
Communism stopped Russian development in its tracks and set them back by decades.
The myth that the Communists took a backward pesant society and industrailzed it through sheer dint of will is pure crap.