Transport routes
Until well into the 19th century, people in the Sauerland either traveled on horseback or on foot. Further distances could be covered by stagecoach. In Schmallenberg, the stagecoaches stopped at the horse changing station or "Posthalterei", which was run by the merchant Anton Johann Störmann. In 1769, he received permission to serve alcohol and to establish an inn. The inn was connected to the post office and a general store. Störmann traded in almost everything: textiles (damask blankets, caps, bedding, yarn, knitted stockings), food (coffee, sugar, wine, herrings, flour), everyday necessities (wax lights, shoe nails) and home-distilled schnapps. The family members also worked as farmers, carters, provided several mayors and a descendant founded the first textile factory. In 1826, Störmann was appointed the "royal post office". The carriages and horses traveled on poorly paved roads. Actual road construction only began at the end of the 18th century. Now, roads were built on a dry and hard surface, with an arch in the middle of the road to allow water to drain away. The roads were terribly dusty; bitumen and asphalt as a binding agent did not appear until around 1900. In Schmallenberg, the road to Gleidorf (today's B 236) was paved in 1842, and the section of road to Fleckenberg in 1844. The former Landwehr (rampart) in the north was turned into meadows and gardens. The square in front of the town was set up as a shooting range and surrounded by trees and hedges. In 1849 the road (Kommunalweg) to Grafschaft was built and in 1856 the road to Wormbach via Obringhausen. Stagecoaches pulled by two horses now ran regularly on this road between Fredeburg and Meschede, Winterberg and Schmallenberg. The Schmallenberg doctor Dr. Witzheller bought the first car in Schmallenberg for his house calls in 1908 and built a car shed (with half-timbering, lattice windows and wooden gates) at his house on Weststraße. until after 1945, only the main roads and the roads in the town center were developed or paved. All other streets were covered with water-bound, dusty surfaces. In 1949, work began on extending and paving them. Traffic grew steadily in the following years; the bypass was opened in 1997, relieving the historic town center. The connection to the railroad network was established relatively late in 1888 and was not a success story: after just over 100 years, the connection was abandoned in 1994. The Schmallenberg-Altemhunden railroad line was built in 1885-87. In 1889, the line was extended via Fredeburg to Wenholthausen and Wennemen. The line proved to be unprofitable: the Altenhundem - Wenholthausen connection was closed in 1964, the Altenhundem-Schmallenberg section was dismantled in 1967, the Wenholthausen-Schmallenberg connection was closed in 1991 and the Schmallenberg-Wennemen connection was closed in 1994. Since 2006, there has been a cycle path on the railroad embankment between Schmallenberg and Eslohe-Bremke (the "SauerlandRadring").
Further infrastructure expansion
In the long term, the rest of the infrastructure development was more successful than the railroad construction: the higher municipal school was founded as early as 1852 and the savings bank (Oststraße 41) was founded in 1855 as the second in the district of Meschede. In 1876, the town was connected to the Cologne-Meschede telegraph line and the first telephone was installed in 1881. In 1882, the first water was piped directly into the houses. Until then, all water for drinking and domestic use had to be drawn from wells within the town; almost every house had a well until 1882. If there was a water shortage, water was drawn from the Lenne. House owners had to contribute financially to the development of the water pipeline. With the new water pipeline, the water tanks for extinguishing fires (the so-called "Feuerkümpe" on Mittelstraße and Synagogenstraße) became superfluous. Improving health care in 1910/11 also included the establishment of the nursing home at Weststraße 48, which developed into a municipal hospital that had to be closed in 1974. There had been a pharmacy in the town since 1798 (Weststraße 62, Löwenapotheke at Weststraße 16 since 1960; the Marien-Apotheke continues to operate in the old building). The growing health care system also included the establishment of a river bathing facility in the Lenne in 1906. In 1974, Schmallenberg and Grafschaft were granted the status of state-recognized climatic health resorts.