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Details
1914 Southern Pacific Railroad City Map or Plan of San Francisco, California
1914 (dated) $850.00
1914 Southern Pacific Railroad Map of San Francisco, California
SanFrancisco-southernpacific-1914$375.00
Title
San Francisco and Vicinity Issued by the Southern Pacific.
1914 (dated) 26 x 27 in (66.04 x 68.58 cm) 1 : 30000
1914 (dated) 26 x 27 in (66.04 x 68.58 cm) 1 : 30000
Description
An attractive pocket map or city plan of San Francisco, California, issued in 1914 by the Southern Pacific Railroad. The map covers the northern part of San Francisco Peninsula from Bellevue Street and Lake Merced northwards. Offering impressive detail, this map identifies all streets and numerous parks and public buildings, even the individual links in the San Francisco Gold and Country Club are noted. Golden Gate Park and the Presidio Military Reservation are particularly well rendered. At the northern top of the map the lands reserved for the Panama-Pacific International Exposition are marked and highlighted in Red. The Panama-Pacific International Exposition (PPIE) was a world's fair held in San Francisco between February 20 and December 4 in 1915. Ostensibly the fair was intended to celebrate the completion of the Panama Canal, but it was also opportunity for San Francisco to showcase its recovery from the 1906 earthquake. The fair was constructed on a 635 acre site (shaded in red) along the northern shore now known as the Marina District. Of course, at this time The Golden Gate and Oakland Bay Bridges have yet to be built. Street and building indexes surround the map proper. A more general map of the entire San Francisco Bay region appears in the upper right corner. The Southern Pacific railroad contracted the Matthews-Northrup Works publishing firm of Buffalo to prepare and print this map.
Cartographer
Matthews-Northrup Works (fl. c. 1895 - 1930) were a Buffalo, New York based, in their own words, "writing, designing, engraving, printing, [and] binding" firm. The firm was founded by James Newson Matthews (November 21, 1828 - December 20, 1888) as the J. N. Matthews Company. William Phelps Northrup (April 2, 1850 - February 2, 1929) later joined the company as an apprentice and then partner, at which point the firm was reincorporated as the Matthews-Northrup Works. The Matthews-Northrup Works rose to prominence as publishers and printers of railroad maps, with dozens to their credit. When James died, his shares were inhered by George Edward Matthews (1855 - 1910), who ran the business until his death in 1910. Also in 1910, they famously redesigned the cover of National Geographic Magazine. Despite some six previous cover changes in just 21 years, the Matthews-Northrup layout proved so popular that it was used for nearly 50 years. The firm can also take credit for the Winchell typeface, designed in 1903 under E. E. Winchell's tenure as art director. Curiously, the partners of Matthews-Northrup maintained an unusual affectation in which only the officers of the company could wear beards or mustaches. In this same spirit, the firm also had its own private social club, the Fellowcraft Club, where the all-male employees could relax, play pool, drink and dine. Matthews-Northrup maintained offices on Washington Street, Buffalo, where they were based, as well as Madison Square, New York City, Garden Tower, Boston, and the Citizens Building in Cleveland. More by this mapmaker...
Condition
Good. Backed on archival tissue. Printing on verso. Margins slightly trimmed. Some loss at original fold intersections - see image.
References
Rumsey 5466.001.