1912 North American Press Bird's-eye View Map of San Francisco, California

An extraordinary bird's-eye view perspective view and map of San Francisco, risen from the ashes of the 1906 earthquake and fire, ready to retake the world stage by hosting of the Panama-Pacific International Exposition. The view looks westward on San Francisco from a fictional highpoint above today's San Francisco-Oakland Bay Bridge with California Street running dead center. The Embarcadero and docks appear in the foreground, while Golden Gate Park and the Pacific are recognizable in the distance. The Panama-Pacific Exposition, displayed here prospectively, appears at right, near the Golden Gate. Across the bay, in the distance, Mount Tamalpais, with a winding road ascending, is recognizable. The view presents a city fully recovered from a disaster that, just six years prior, destroyed eighty percent of the city. Cartographically the map is noteworthy as it illustrates and names nearly every single building - an astounding achievement and an invaluable record of San Francisco c. 1912.

Panama-Pacific International Exposition (PPIE)

The Panama-Pacific International Exposition (PPIE) was a world's fair held in San Francisco between February 20 and December 4, 1915. Ostensibly, the fair was intended to celebrate the completion of the Panama Canal, but it was also an opportunity for San Francisco to showcase its remarkable recovery from the 1906 earthquake. The fair was constructed on a 635-acre site along the northern shore now known as the Marina District. It showcased American industry, progress, and prosperity. The exhibition's pièce de resistance was the 'Tower of Jewels', a 435-foot tower covered in glass Novagems illuminated by powerful searchlights. Little remains of the original fair grounds, except for the Palace of Fine Arts - although the current iteration matches the original, it was completely rebuilt in the 1960s to be more permanent and seismic-resistant.

Chromolithography

Chromolithography is a color lithographic technique developed in the mid-19th century. The process involved using multiple lithographic stones, one for each color, to yield a rich composite effect. Oftentimes, the process would start with a black basecoat upon which subsequent colors were layered. Some chromolithographs used thirty or more separate lithographic stones to achieve the desired effect. Chromolithograph color could also be effectively blended for even more dramatic results. The process became extremely popular in the late 19th and early 20th centuries when it emerged as the dominate method of color printing. The vivid color chromolithography produced made it exceptionally effective for advertising and propaganda imagery.

Publication History and Census

This map was originally produced on June 22, 1912. It was engraved and printed by the Pingree-Traung Company, of San Francisco, on behalf of the North American Press Association. While Pingree-Traung was a major printing concern, this map and a guide to several California cities seem to constitute the full corpus of the North American Press Association. It was prepared in anticipate of the Panama-Pacific International Exposition (1915). Examples appear on both thin onion-skin paper, as here, and on heavier stock (per Rumsey). The present map is the second edition, published 2 days after the first on June 24, 1912, is identifiable by the winding road to the summit of Mount Tamalpais, and names of buildings on the block bounded by First, Bryant, Brannon, and Beale streets. A later much-reduced reissue was prepared in 1968 (cf. Rumsey 10016.000) to promote the First Savings and Loan Association. The restrike can be identified by its smaller size, additional promotional text appearing below the title block, and a more turquoise colored bay. Of the present second edition, only one other example, at the Wells Fargo Museum in San Francisco.