|
||
|
|
|
|
Scarce early state of this striking promotional map advertising the routes of the Rock Island Railroad.
The map provides a fine template of the state of American Railroads in the middle of the 1880s and was clearly, at that point, being updated on an annual basis. For example, a comparision of this map with our 1886 example, reflects a number of lines not yet present on this map, but shown on the 1886 map, including:
- A huge growth in the RR lines in Eastern Dakota Territory.
- A RR line from San Bernardino CA to Barstow CA.
- A RR line from San Miguel to San Luis Obispo CA and La Purissima.
- A complete revision of the projected route from the A & P southward to Prescott, AZ.
- A RR line from Tuscon northwards to Globe City, AZ.
- 3 new branches extending north from the AT&SF in southwestern New Mexico.
- A line connecting Boulder CO more directly with Georgetown CO.
- A RR line from Whitesboro on the Republican Fork to Ft. Worth, TX.
- A RR line from Dallas TX to the northeast toward Honey Grove.
- A RR line from Dallas TX to Greenville TX.
- A RR line from Sherman TX to Henrietta TX.
- A RR line from Ft. Nebraska to Ft. Fetterman, WY.
- A RR line from Camp Robinson Nebraska to Rapid City, Dakota Territory / Black Hills.
- Several new RR Lines in Northeastern Oregon & Northwestern Washington.
- Extensions of the Line from Sheridan OR to the south and west.
- A RR line from Silver Bow MT to Pioneer MT.
- Map revisions south of Utah Lake and the addition of a line from what is called Salt Creek on the 1885 map southwards along the Wasatch Range,
We track editions published in 1884, 1885, 1886 and 1889.
The map is rare on the market. OCLC locates 2 examples of the 1883, 1 example of the 1884 and 2 examples of the 1885 edition.
George F. Cram (1842-1928), or George Franklin Cram, was an American mapmaker and businessman. During the Civil War, Cram served under General William Tecumseh Sherman and participated in his March to the Sea. His letters of that time are now important sources for historians of the Civil War. In 1867, Cram and his uncle, Rufus Blanchard, began the company known by their names in Evanston, Illinois.
Two years later, Cram became sole proprietor and the company was henceforth known as George F. Cram Co. Specializing in atlases, Cram was one of the first American companies to publish a world atlas. One of their most famous products was the Unrivaled Atlas of the World, in print from the 1880s to the 1950s.
Cram died in 1928, seven years after he had merged the business with that of a customer, E.A. Peterson. The new company still bore Cram’s name. Four years later, the Cram Company began to make globes, a branch of the business that would continue until 2012, when the company ceased to operate. For the final several decades of the company’s existence it was controlled by the Douthit family, who sold it just before the company was shuttered.
![[Hand Drawn Map] Le Golfe de Mexique avec les Pays Circonvoisins](https://storage.googleapis.com/raremaps/img/small/91580.jpg)
![The United States of America Confirmed By Treaty 1783 [shows Franklinia]](https://storage.googleapis.com/raremaps/img/small/84491.jpg)
![[ United States ] Carte Speciale, Historique et. Geographique De La Republique Des Etats-Unis De L'Amerique Du Nord](https://storage.googleapis.com/raremaps/img/small/98460.jpg)