One of the great pictorial maps of the United States from the Golden Age of Pictorial Mapmaking.
J.E. Pattersons' Southern Pacific map of the United States highlights the four main routes that the company promoted for transcontinental (or nearly) service in the late 1920s:
Sunset Route-By sea, New York to New Orleans, thence by rail to San Francisco.
Golden State Route-The direct line between the Middle West and Southern California.
Overland Route-Shortest route across the center of the country, Chicago-San Francisco.
Shasta Route-Between Pacific Northwest and California for travelers over northern lines
The map is redolent of the great 16th century Low Countries maps, with its liberal use of strapwork decoration and cartouches, as well as fantastical sea monsters.
At the top are four vignettes tying Southern Pacific's routes to historical events or eras. On the sides are inset images in a chronology of the company from 1862 to 1928.