1958 General Drafting Map of the United States, its Products, and Trucks

This is a 1958 General Drafting Company pictorial map of the United States, its industry, and the transportation network used to move its products. The map follows the 1956 Federal-Aid Highway Act, celebrating the success of the American Highway system and the hard work of truckers in moving goods along a growing arterial network of interstate trade.

A Closer Look

Pictorial vignettes highlight American production, from agricultural goods to aircraft parts and automobiles. Corn, potatoes, walnuts, citrus fruit, and flour appear among the nation's agricultural products. Coal, lead, uranium ore, copper, aluminum, and phosphates are named among the nation's mineral resources. Farm machinery, shoes, synthetic rubber, textiles, and paper represent a handful of manufactured products. America's highway network, illustrated below the green vignettes in shades of gray, serves as a network of commerce. The trucks that create the map's border carry it all. Many of these were designed with specific purposes in mind: logging, beverage panel trucks, telephone line trucks, bulk milk trucks, ice cream trucks, and vehicle carriers, etc.

1956 Federal-Aid Highway Act

The 1956 Federal-Aid Highway Act, signed into law by President Dwight D. Eisenhower, marked a transformative moment in U.S. infrastructure and transportation. It authorized the construction of the Interstate Highway System, a 41,000-mile network of roads designed to connect major cities across the country. Inspired by Eisenhower’s experience with Germany’s autobahn during World War II (1939 - 1945), the act aimed to improve national defense, facilitate efficient transportation, and boost economic growth. The interstates revolutionized travel by dramatically reducing cross-country driving times and improving safety through better-engineered roads. The act also had far-reaching social effects, contributing to suburbanization as families moved out of cities, while also leading to the decline of some urban areas as highways bypassed traditional commercial districts. Additionally, it spurred economic development by improving access to markets and reducing transportation costs for goods and services.

Publication History and Census

This map was created by the General Drafting Company in 1958 and published by the Automobile Manufacturers Association for schools. Three examples are cataloged in OCLC and are part of the collections at the Library of Congress, Pennsylvania State University, and Michigan State University. A fourth example is part of Persuasive Maps: the P.J. Mode Collection at Cornell University.