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Other map pages
[ 19th Century U.S. regional maps ]
[ Locations | Map themes & related | Cartographers ]
J.H. Young. "A New Map Of The United States of America." Philadelphia: Thomas, Cowperthwait, & Co, 1850. 16 x 26 3/8. Lithographic transfer from engraved plate. Full original color. Some chipping at margins and wear along centerfold; light stains at right. Otherwise, very good condition.
A strong and detailed map of the entire United States from the mid-nineteenth century, published by one of the Cowperthwait firms of Philadelphia. Towns, rivers, orography and other surprising details are shown throughout. The Thomas, Cowperthwait & Co. maps are especially known for their depiction of the transportation routes, and this map is no exception. Roads, and railroads are shown in the eastern part of the country, while west of the Mississippi are drawn the major trails such as those going to Oregon and Santa Fe. States and territories are named and highlighted in contrasting pastel shades, with this information being of particular interest in the trans-Mississippi region, which is shown in the configuration as determined by the Compromise of 1850. California as depicted as a state and large Utah and New Mexico territories are shown below the equally large Oregon Territory. The lands north of Texas are depicted as comprised of two large territories, Indian and "Missouri or North West Territory." To the east of the latter is the Minnesota Territory comprised of today's Minnesota and the Dakotas. Also of considerable interest is the large inset in the lower left corner of the "Gold Region of California," giving even more detail of the region involved in the great gold rush of 1849. Overall this is a fascinating map from an important time in the western development of the United States. $425
"Verein-Staaten von Nord-America." Hildburghausen, Germany: Bibliograph Institus in Hildburghausen, ca. 1850. 3 1/2 x 5 5/8. Engraving. Original hand color. Very good condition.
A detailed small engraving showing the United States about 1850, issued by the 'Bibliographic Institution of Hildburghausen.' This firm issued many steel engraved views of all parts of the world and also, around the middle of the nineteenth century, an atlas with detailed and up-to-date maps. Each state and territory is indicated, with a very interesting depiction for the trans-Mississippi region. The states, 33 of them, are listed at right. $125
Carl Flemming. "Vereinigte Staaten von Nordamerika." Germany: C. Flemming, 1853. Folding map, dissected into 24 sections, mounted on linen, and housed in clamshell box. 20 5/8 x 28. Lithography by Handtke. Original outline color. A very little light spotting in lower left margin. Otherwise excellent condition. Denver.
Carl Flemming ran an important German publishing house in Glogau and Berlin in the middle of the nineteenth century, issuing atlases and separately issued maps like this one. The Germans were very interested in American at this period, with large numbers having emigrated to Texas in the 1840s, and more taking advantage of the opportunities of land and employment by coming to the mid-west and into the west. This map includes great detail of rivers, towns, railroads and canals, all engraved with typical German precision and clarity. The map is particularly interesting for its depiction of the trans-Mississippi region. Shown are large territories for Oregon, New Mexico, Utah, Missouri, "Minisotah," and a large Indian Territory. A fine European map of the U.S. at mid-century. $950
Carl Flemming. "Vereinigte Staaten von Nordamerika." Germany: C. Flemming, 1853. 20 5/8 x 28. Lithography by Handtke. Original outline color. Very good condition.
Another example of Flemming's map of the United States, this example issued in an atlas. $850
"The United States of America." New York: J.H. Colton, 1855. 15 1/2 x 26. Lithograph. Original hand color. Full margins. Spot below title. Old creases. Otherwise, very good condition.
An excellent, detailed map of the United States showing the nation's political configuration just after the Compromise of 1850 and the Kansas-Nebraska act of 1854. The former act established California as a state and set up the Utah and New Mexico territories between the new state and the Rocky mountains. The latter act broke up the old Missouri Territory and Indian Territories to create the Kansas Territory, running from Missouri to the Utah Territory, and the Nebraska Territory from Kansas to the Canadian border. The Colton firm kept their maps very up-to-date, so this map shows this situation clearly and with good detail. Besides the usual rivers, settlements, forts and such, this map also shows both the "Oregon Route" and the "Santa Fe Route," as well as the proposed routes for the planned trans-continental railroad. A fine map from one of the top American map publishing firms of the mid-nineteenth century. $350
J.H. Young. "A New Map of The United States of America." Philadelphia: Charles Desilver, 1856. 16 x 26 1/2. Lithograph. Original hand color. Repaired separation and small stains at lower centerfold. Else, very good condition. Denver.
An fine, detailed map of the United States showing the nation's political configuration just after the Compromise of 1850 and the Kansas-Nebraska act of 1854. The former act established California as a state and set up the Utah and New Mexico territories between the new state and the Rocky mountains. The latter act broke up the old Missouri Territory and Indian Territories to create the Kansas Territory, running from Missouri to the Utah Territory, and the Nebraska Territory from Kansas to the Canadian border. This particular map is from a rare atlas issued by Charles Desilver in 1856. It is very up-to-date and shows the country with impressively detailed and clear detail. Besides the usual rivers, settlements, forts and such, this map also shows the "Oregon Route," the "Santa Fe Route," as well as other western trails. This map was issued at the time the nation was focusing on building a trans-continental railroad and the map has text about this project along with indications of some of the proposed routes. The map includes two insets: one showing the District of Columbia and the other the Gold Region of California. A terrific cartographic picture of the United States at the beginning of its growth into the west and on the eve of the Civil War. $425
J.H. Young. "No. 5. Map of the United Sates." From Mitchell's School and Family Geography. Philadelphia: S. Augustus Mitchell, [1856]-1860. 10 5/8 x 17. Engraving by E. Yeager. Original hand color. Very good condition. Denver.
A fine map of the United States issued about 1860 in Mitchell's influential School and Family Geography. The map is filled with myriad topographical details, including rivers, towns, lakes, and mountains. Political information includes indications of states and territories, highlighted in contrasting shades. Also shown are early roads and railroads. It is for the American West that the map is of particular interest. Issued a few years after the Kansas-Nebraska Act, the map shows those two territories with considerable information of rivers, newly established towns, forts, and Indian tribes with impressive detail. In the northwest, Oregon was created as a state in 1859, and what was the eastern part of the old Oregon Territory was given to Washington Territory, shown with the unusual shape it retained for only a few years.
Of particular note is the 'horizontal' Arizona Territory, running east to west below New Mexico. After the Gadsden Purchase, in the late 1850s, there was demand for the breaking off an Arizona territory from New Mexico. This culminated in a provisional constitution by the unofficial 1860 Constitutional Convention held in Tucson in 1860 that the southern part of the New Mexico Territory be made into Arizona Territory. In 1861 this self-proclaimed territory ceded from the Union, though in June the following year Union forces took back the territory from the Confederates. Mitchell shows Arizona as a separate entity, though it was not officially a U.S. territory until 1863, when it was created with a north-south border between it and New Mexico, instead of the east-west border shown here. $325
Theodor Ettling. "United States of North America (Eastern & Central)." London: Weekly Dispatch, ca. 1860. 38 x 35 1/2. Lithograph transfer from engraving by T. Ettling. Printed by Day & Son. Original outline color. Dissected into 24 sections and mounted on linen. Very good condition.
A British separately issued map of the United States up to the Rockies by Theodor Ettling. Ettling was a Dutch draughtsman, engraver and lithographer who worked first in Amsterdam, later moving to London where he produced maps for some of the British papers of the mid-nineteenth century. This map was published by the Weekly Dispatch, which issued an atlas in 1858 with maps by Ettling. Ettling seems to have made quite a study of North America, issuing a number of fine examples such as this large folding map. Detail is copious and precisely delineated in a typically neat British style. Roads, towns, rivers, lakes, and topographically are all accurately and clearly rendered. The map shows the United States as it was situated at the beginning of the Civil War, and its depiction of the trans-Mississippi region is particularly interesting. A large Kansas Territory and very large Nebraska Territory run up to the Rocky Mountains, with New Mexico, a tiny bit of Arizona, Utah, and Idaho shown at the western edge of the map. The detail in this region is also of considerable interest, with proposed railroad routes and Indian tribes indicated throughout. Besides its historic interest, this rare map is also decoratively very attractive, with the soft pastel outline color and hatchured topography lending it a nice visual appeal. $950
"The United States of America." New York: J.H. Colton, [1856]-1866. 15 1/2 x 26. Lithograph. Original hand color. Crease next to centerfold and some light spotting. Overall, very good condition.
Another Colton map, this of the United States in 1866. Just two years before this map was issued, Montana Territory was created out of Idaho Territory, and that is the configuration shown here, with just to the south the territory that would later become Wyoming shown as part of the Dakota Territory. This map was issued just at the beginning of the dramatic post-Civil War development of the American west and it presents detail of this region that is fascinating. Rivers and lakes and some topography are shown, but it is the forts, mines, and towns which are of particular interest. Also shown are the roads and trails that had been and continued to be traveled by those settling or crossing the American west. For instance, the Santa Fe Trail, the Oregon Trail, and the Pony Express routes are all clearly documented, as are some of the early explorer's routes. A fine snap shot image of the United States just after the Civil War from one of the top American map publishing firms of the mid-nineteenth century. $375
Theodore Franks. "Map of the United States and Territories Showing the extent of the Public Surveys and other details." Washington: General Land Office, 1866. 28 x 55. Engraving by D. McClelland. Original outline color. Wheat: 1137. Denver.
The U.S. General Land Office (GLO) was established in 1812, with responsibility to survey and control the dispersal of public lands. All public land was required to be surveyed prior to settlement, and the first director of the GLO, Thomas Hutchins, set up a systematic process of rectangular survey for the public lands and launched the great national project to survey and map the public domain in the entire country, a procedure which got under way in the famous "seven ranges" of southeast Ohio. Each surveyor was to record not only geography, but also features of the landscape with economic import, such as roads, Indian trails, existing settlements, Indian lands, mineral deposits, and of particular interest, railroads and their rights of way. Of note is that unlike most surveys of the time, the surveyors were instructed not to apply new names to the landscape, but to use "the received names of all rivers, creeks, lakes, swamps, prairies, hills, mountains and other natural objects."
By mid-century the GLO had completed most of the surveys for the lands between the Appalachians and the Mississippi, and so focused most of its attention to the American west for the rest of the century. The GLO published mostly state maps, which were issued in annual reports, bound into state atlases, and in a few atlases that combined all the current maps in progress. These maps produced by the GLO are the most accurate and detailed maps of the U.S., based on rigorous and comprehensive surveys not hindered by commercial concerns. These maps proved very useful to private American mapmakers, and they were often the basis for state and county maps in the second half of the century. This is the 1866 map of the entire United States, showing the "extent of the Public Surveys," done under the direction of Jos. S. Wilson by Theodore Franks. The Idaho Territory was created from parts of the Oregon, Washington and Dakota Territories in 1863 and then a year later, the northeastern part was formed into the Montana Territory, with the southeastern part reattached to Dakota. This is the situation shown in this map, with the present-day Oklahoma still Indian Territory. The other territories and states have essentially their current borders. This map is impressive for its indication of not only the public surveys, but also the indication of both proposed railroad routes and the many trails crossing the western parts of the country. Finally of note are the many indications of mines for gold, silver, copper, etc. A wonderful document of the extent of official knowledge of the country just at the end of the Civil War. $1,250
"Map Of The United States, and Territories. Together With Canada &c." Philadelphia: S.A. Mitchell, Jr., 1867. Lithograph. Original hand color. 13 1/4 x 21 1/4. Very good condition.
This is a classic example of a map from one of the S.Augustus Mitchell atlases. It depicts the political divisions of the country just about the time that the Wyoming Territory was created (1869). This territory was created out of the southwestern part of the Dakota Territory and this map names it and roughly indicates its proposed borders with a dotted line. Detail in the map is accurate, clear and copious. The eastern part of the country is filled with railroads, roads, towns, and so forth, and the trans-Mississippi west also contains an impressive amount of information on forts, settlements, rivers, some mountains, and Indian territories. Of particular note are the depictions of the "Overland Mail Route" and the proposed railroad routes. $275
U.S. General Land Office. "Map of the United States and Territories Showing the extent of the Public Surveys…General Land Office…direction of Jos[eph] S. Wilson, Commissioner, by Joseph Gorlinski, Draughtman, 1867." In Bericht des Commissionär des General=Land=Amtes, der Vereinigten Staaten von America, für das Jahr 1867. Washington: Drud der Regierunge= Buchdruderei, 1868. Octavo. Folding map, 28 x 55. Lithographed by Julius Bien. The map has old tape at junctions of most folds and a few spots. Binding is original pebble grain covers; bumped corners and chipped a top of spine; else fine. Ref.: similar to Phillips, Maps, p. 917.
A large and impressive map of the United States based on the mapping of the General Land Office of the U.S. Department of the Interior. Besides showing the extent of the surveys, topography, and major cities and forts, symbols show land offices, proposed and actual railroads, mineral deposits, and light houses. There is no Wyoming, Dakota is one territory, and the future Oklahoma is designated Indian Territory split among six tribal units. The map was issued in a German edition of the report of the GLO (the map is in English). The text emphasizes mineral resources with information on tonnage and values realized in recent history. $675
"Map of the United States." From H.H.Lloyd & Co.'s Atlas of United States. Philadelphia: Warner & Higgins, 1870. Lithograph by E. Bourquin. 16 1/4 x 28 1/4. Original hand color. Very good condition.
A map of the United States from a uncommon atlas. Issued in 1870, just a year after Wyoming Territory was created, the map shows an up-to-date depiction of the political situation in the country. The eastern part of the country is filled with road and railroads, but it is in the west that most of the interest lies. The river systems in the west were becoming clearer at this time and this map presents those clearly. Also shown are forts, settlements, passes, and of special note that trans-Mississippi rail systems being built at this time. It was only the year before, in 1869, that the golden spike was driven at Promontory Summit, Utah joining the Union Pacific and Central Pacific Railroads. That first transcontinental line is nicely depicted on this map, making it a wonderful snap shot of this seminal time in American history. $285
"Gray's Atlas Map of the United States of America. 1873." Philadelphia: O.W. Gray, 1873. 16 3/4 x 27 1/2. Lithograph. Original hand color. Very good condition.
A map of the United States issued in 1873 at a period when the completion of the transcontinental railroad and gold rushes in California and Colorado led to an upswing in the speed of development of the trans-Mississippi west. While the railroads in the west cannot compare to the web of rail lines in the east, the growth shown on this map, compared to earlier depictions of the United States, is graphic evidence of the western boom. The political formation in the west remained static after the addition of the Wyoming Territory in 1869, but each year was welcomed with many new miles of rail line, new settlements, and a better understanding of the topography of the region. $225
Rufus Blanchard. "Historical Map of the United States Showing Early Spanish, French & English Discoveries and Explorations Also Forts, Towns & Battle Fields of Historical Interest." Chicago; R. Blanchard, 1876. 57 1/4 x 54. Lithograph. Original hand color. Mounted onto linen and folded into 10 x 13 1/2 sections. With original leather covers. With separations at folds, but otherwise, very good condition.
A visually striking historical map of the United States issued in 1876 in celebration of the American Centennial. The map, with depicts the U.S. from the Mississippi to the Atlantic, illustrates the spheres of colonial power, with notes on the earliest discoveries, settlements, forts, battles and so forth. Also included are several inset maps, some copies of original antique maps, and one showing the United States at the beginning, after the Treaty of Paris in 1783, and one showing the United States in 1826, after a half century of growth. Historical text appears on the front of the map, and a series of panels, giving a chronological account of the history of the U.S., are mounted on the bottom verso. The map was designed to fold into covers and these panels can be read when it is first opened. The map also has two ribbons in the top corners, intended to be used to hang the map for presentation, presumably in a school room. This is a most interesting and quite handsome map from the end of our nation's first century. $750
"Map Of The United States, and Territories. Together With Canada &c." Philadelphia: S.A. Mitchell, Jr., 1876. Lithograph. Original hand color. 13 1/4 x 21 1/4. Very good condition.
A later edition of the S.A. Mitchell map of the United States, issued during the country's Centennial year. Quite changed from the map of the previous decade (above) and with more topographical features than the Gray map of three years before. $225
G.W. & C.B. Colton. "Map Showing the Line of the Norfolk and Western and Shenandoah Valley Railroads and the Connection with the Virginia, Tennessee & Georgia Air Line." New York: G.W. & C.B. Colton & Co., 1881. 19 x 25 1/2. Lithograph. Original highlight color. Excellent condition. Folded into First Annual Report of the President and Directors of the Norfolk & Western Railroad Company. Philadelphia, 1882. Octavo. Paper covers. 51 pp. Excellent condition.
A map of the railroad lines in the American southeast produced by one of the most important map publishers of the second half of the nineteenth century, the Colton firm out of New York. This firm, which went through a number of different manifestations, issued both atlas maps and attractive folding maps such as this one. This map was issued to accompany the first annual report, for 1881, of the Norfolk & Western Railroad Company. The map is folded into the back of the pamphlet, and its copious detail of the railroad systems in the American southeast would have provided excellent illumination for the annual report. Detail is given of rivers and towns from Massachusetts to Iowa and from Florida to Louisiana. All the myriad railroads in this region are also shown, which those of the "Virginia, Tennessee and Georgia Air Line" highlighted in color. This railroad system was comprised of the Norfolk and Western, Shenandoah Valley, East Tennessee, Virginia, and Georgia railroad systems. Ship connections from these lines to Baltimore, New York and Boston are also indicated. Scarce and of considerable historic note, this is a fine document of the American southeast from about a century ago. $475
"Map of the United States." Buffalo: Matthews Northrup Co., ca. 1890. 12 x 19 3/4. Cereograph. Full color. Pocket folding map with original, printed cover. Some wear to corner of cover, but overall fine condition.
A nice, unusual example of a "vest-pocket" folding map from around 1890. Issued in Buffalo New York by the Matthews Northrup Co. On the back of the cover they advertise their "Vest-Pocket Maps" which are "Handsomer - handier - BETTER than any 50-cent maps published. The back of the map includes a description of the history and politics of the U.S., along with a table of population. The map itself has considerable detail, including railroads, towns, and much else. $95
U.S. Geological Survey. "United States Contour Map." Prepared for the U.S. Geological Service, John Wesley Powell, Director. Compiled by Henry Gannett. Washington: Edition of Dec. 1896, reprinted March, 1902. Engraving. 17 1/4 x 28 (neat lines) plus full margins. Paper old and brittle. Excellent condition.
The base map was the most simple but essential map produced by the United States government in the second half of the Nineteenth Century. Relatively few cities and towns are on this map by design; however, the profuse detail on waterways, printed in blue, is amazing. Using contour lines on such a large area necessitated simple but easy to follow elevations. Oklahoma is the last of the lower forty-eight states to be poised to join the union. $175
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