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Description

An attractive tourist map of Sacramento produced for the city's 1939 centennial. The recto is centered on a map of Sacramento itself and the immediate vicinity, while the verso shows a map of the greater "Golden Empire" area from Mt. Shasta to Tuolumne and from Santa Rosa to Reno. Text, sketches, and pictures detail this area.

Sacramento was first founded in 1839 by John Sutter as the New Helvetia colony, who oversaw the birth of agricultural might in the area. The discovery of gold on another of Sutter's properties led to the founding of Sacramento proper, and it became the first incorporated Californian city. The city grew rapidly but was hard hit by the Depression. This map was made at a time when the city was looking past its recent troubles, to try and reclaim the status it commanded historically. While the new breed of tourists may have been more interested in visiting the coastal cities, this map tries to advertise the historical interest of Sacramento and the beauty of the surrounding mountainous region.

The map of Sacramento shows the city in a pictorial style with many points of interest labeled. In the city proper, we see Sutter's Fort, the Crocker Art Gallery, and the State Capitol. The major roads of Sacramento are labeled, and their destinations out of town, including Tahoe, Yosemite, Donner, and Shasta Dam are all sketched. In addition, points of industrial importance are shown, such as railyards, canneries, mines, and the "$7,000,000 Army Air Depot," all of which suggest a prosperous and modern city.

The road map on the verso shows the whole Golden Empire area, including many settlements, roads, air routes, and showing topography. Surrounding these two maps are text proclaiming the many interesting features of the area. A meteorologist describes the climate of the city in flowery language and the many road trips which fishermen, skiers, and historically minded visitors might undertake are narrated.

Interestingly, the map not only targets tourists but explicitly advertises to those interested in moving to Sacramento. Education, income-producing homes, and the points of interest in this map are all used to lure people to relocate to this city. Compared to other maps of California from a few years prior which warned people to visit but not to stay, this map shows a city ready to emerge from the Depression.

Rarity

We find no other examples of this map.

Condition Description
Very minor wear along some folds.