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Search indexed Library of Congress records for Sanborn fire insurance maps, railroad maps, historical newspapers and photographs. Explore places, dates and original collection links.

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At least 19 recordsLinked to original sources
Library of Congress1854

Map of North America from the latest authorities, showing the proposed railroad routes from the Atlantic to the Pacific Oceans

Relief shown by hachures. "Entered according to Act of Congress in the year 1849 by J.H. Colton in the Clerk's Office of the District Court of the Southern District of New York." Includes list of "Geographical statistic's," distance list, and illustrations. Available also through the Library of Congress Web site as a raster image. Acquisitions control no. 20-83

railroads↗
Library of Congress1873

Atlantic Ocean &c. : shewing the communication between Europe, North America and the Pacific

Shows transatlantic cables, steam and sailing routes, currents, and the Sargasso Sea; major existing and proposed railroads in the United States and Canada, Chagres Railway across Panama. Relief shown by contours. Annotated in ink: Black's General Atlas - 1873. Rubber-stamped: 626888 N. 41. Includes travel times and distances for various routes, dates of cables. In lower right margin: 39A.

united states↗
Library of Congress1878

Rand McNally & Co's business atlas : containing large scale maps of each state and territory of the United States, the provinces of Canada, West India Islands, etc., etc., together with a complete reference map of the world ... accompanied by a new and original compilation and ready reference index, showing in detail the entire railroad system of North America

Relief shown by hachures. Includes indexes. LC copy imperfect: pages brittle, front board detached. Phillips, 1402 Available also through the Library of Congress Web site as a raster image.

canada↗
Library of Congress1889

The Man of Commerce.

"The Man of Commerce" is a detailed map that conflates human anatomy with the American transportation system. Published in 1889 by the Land & River Improvement Company of Superior, Wisconsin, the map promotes Superior as a transportation hub and shows the routes of 29 railroads across the United States. The outline map of North America is superimposed by a cutaway diagram of the human body. The map's metaphor makes West Superior "the center of cardiac or heart circulation." The railways become major arteries. New York is "the umbilicus through which this man of commerce was developed." The explanatory notes conclude: "It is an interesting fact that in no other portion of the known world can any such analogy be found between the natural and artificial channels of commerce and circulatory and digestive apparatus of man." Use of the human body as a cartographic metaphor dates back at least to the 16th century, to the anthropomorphic map of Europe as a queen in Sebastian Münster's Cosmography (1570). This map may be the earliest application of this metaphor to North America. The cartographer was A.F. McKay, who in 1889 briefly served as the editor of the Superior Sentinel newspaper. The map was engraved by Rand McNally. The American Geographical Society Library acquired the map in 2009, aided in part by the Map Society of Wisconsin. The only other known copy of this map is in a private collection.

railroads↗
Library of Congress1911

Map of the Argentine Railways.

Between 1880 and 1915, the Argentine railroad network expanded from 1,388 miles (2,234 kilometers) to 22,251 miles (35,809 kilometers) in length, making it the longest on the continent of South America and the eighth longest in the world. Railroads played a key role in economic development and national consolidation and made possible Argentina's emergence as a major exporter of wheat, beef, and other products. The most important railroads were owned and built by British companies, which were granted concessions by the Argentine government because of their technical expertise and their ability to raise large sums on the London market to finance the construction. This 1911 map, issued by the Buenos Aires and Pacific Railway Company of Buenos Aires and London, shows the country's main rail lines. Inset maps show the denser networks in the regions of Buenos Aires, Mendoza, and Bahia Blanca. Most of the British-owned lines adopted the broad-gauge, 5 foot 6 inch (1.68 meter) standard, wider than the track used in most other parts of the world, including Europe and North America. Other lines used the narrow gauge of 3 foot 3.27 inches (1 meter wide), or the 4 foot 8.5 inch (1.44 meter) standard gauge.

railroads↗
Library of Congress1874

Chicago, Milwaukee, and St. Paul Railway

Includes inset map of the business district of Chicago, and 8 views. Timetables and advertisements on verso. LC North America, railroad maps, 44 Available also through the Library of Congress Web site as a raster image.

united states↗
Library of Congress1899

Argentine Railways, 1899.

Intensive railroad development took place in Argentina between 1880 and 1916, a period of rapid economic growth and national consolidation. The railroads made possible Argentina's emergence as a major exporter of wheat, beef, and other products. The most important railroads were owned and built by British companies, which were granted concessions by the Argentine government because of their technical expertise and their ability to raise large sums on the London market to finance the construction. This 1899 map, issued by the Buenos Ayres and Pacific Railway Company, of London, shows the country's main rail lines. The inset map at the upper left shows the dense network in and around the capital city and main port of Buenos Aires. Most of the British-owned lines adopted the broad-gauge, 5 foot 6 inch (1.68 meter) standard, wider than the track used in most other parts of the world, including Europe and North America. Other lines used the narrow gauge of 3 foot 3.27 inches (1 meter wide), or, as indicated in the note on the map pertaining to the provinces of Entre Rios and Corrientes, the 4 foot 8.5 inch (1.44 meter) standard gauge.

uruguay↗
Library of Congress1920

Railway Map of Jamaica.

This map, produced in the 1920s by the Transportation Department of the United States Department of Commerce, shows the railroads and rail stations of Jamaica, at that time a crown colony within the British Empire. Also shown are the island's main roads and its three counties--Cornwall, Middlesex, and Surrey--and their borders. The scale of the map is in statute miles (1 mile = 1.61 kilometers). The Western Jamaica Connecting Railway was built in 1845. Running from Kingston to Angels, a distance of some 23 kilometers, it was the first railroad constructed anywhere outside Europe or North America. The Jamaican railroad system was expanded throughout the 1900s, mainly for the purpose of bringing sugar and other products to the ports of Kingston, Port Antonio, and Montego Bay. Expansion of the railway in the late-19th century opened up the interior of the country to farming and the establishment of banana and citrus plantations. The map is held in the Columbus Memorial Library of the Organization of American States (OAS). After approximately 300 years of British rule, Jamaica gained its independence in 1962. It joined the OAS in 1969.

great britain↗
Library of Congress1849

Map without title showing the railroad route to Santa Fe and San Diego; the central route through South Pass and on to San Francisco and "Puget's Sound," and connecting railroads east of the Mississippi

Outline map of North America showing proposed railroad routes within the present limits of the United States. This is one of the earliest promotional maps for a transcontinental railroad to come before the United States Congress and claimed by the author to have been "conceived as early as 1830."

united states↗
Library of Congress1891

The route of the Alaska excursion steamers

"In the years after the Alaska Purchase in 1867, Americans had only a dim appreciation of the value and splendors of their new northern territory. This attitude changed slowly, and it was not fully overcome until the Klondike Gold Rush of 1898 radically altered perceptions of the region's value. Even earlier, however, certain developments started to shift American views of Alaska. In particular, John Muir's accounts of his travels to Alaska, beginning in the 1870s, gave Americans an initial feeling for the rare majesty of the Alaskan wilderness. Aside from Muir's paeans to nature, the area was ripe for large-scale tourism because of the recent completion of several transcontinental railroads and improving port infrastructure for passenger ship service. From the 1880s onwards, seasonal cruises began to tap a growing market for visitors eager to see the rugged Pacific coast between Seattle or Vancouver and Alaska. In time, this stretch of sea and islands became known as the "Inside Passage." The route wound through the spectacular fjords of the region and became world-famous for wildlife and scenery. Newsworthy events, such as the Harriman Alaskan Expedition of 1899 financed by railroad magnate E.H. Harriman, further highlighted the region and its potential for tourism. This map, published in 1891, shows the excursion steamship routes from Seattle, which took the inland waterway east of Vancouver Island and on to Alaska, as well as the interconnecting railroad routes from Chicago on the Great Northern and Northern Pacific Lines." World Digital Library.

alaska↗
Library of Congress1848

Skeleton map showing the rail roads completed and in progress in the United States and their connection as proposed with the harbor of Pensacola, and its relative position to the various important ports on the Gulf of Mexico, the Atlantic coast and in the West Indies

Outline map of the eastern half of the United States indicating drainage, state boundaries, major cities, and constructed and contemplated railroads. The southern portion of map indicates proposed shipping routes to points in the West Indies and Middle America. This is one of the earliest small-scale government maps to show a railroad network. [From published bibliography]

united states↗