Diagram of the United States of America, Mexico, the West India Islands and Isthmus of Darien : showing proposed routes of the Pacific Rail Road


Diagram of the United States of America, Mexico, the West India Islands and Isthmus of Darien

Item Information

Title:
Diagram of the United States of America, Mexico, the West India Islands and Isthmus of Darien : showing proposed routes of the Pacific Rail Road
Description:
America Transformed: By mid-19th century, with increased oceanic traffic between the East and West Coasts based on the China trade and discovery of gold in California, many Americans wanted to extend the nation’s rail network west of the Mississippi River by constructing a transcontinental route. In 1853, Congress authorized the War Department to conduct reconnaissance surveys in order to determine the best route for a transcontinental railroad. Because of growing sectional rivalries between the North and South in extending chattel slavery into the western territories, there were four east-west Pacific Railroad Surveys, as indicated on this schematic map.
Creator:
Steiger, W. T.
Name on Item:
by W. T. Steiger, General Land Office ; lith. by A. Hoen & Co.
Date:
1854
Format:
Maps/Atlases
Location:
Boston Public Library
Norman B. Leventhal Map Center
Collection (local):
Norman B. Leventhal Map Center Collection
Subjects:
Railroads--North America--Maps
Railroads--United States--Maps
United States--Maps
North America--Maps
Places:
North America (area)

Extent:
1 map : col. ; 73 x 94 cm.
Terms of Use:
No known copyright restrictions.
No known restrictions on use.
Publisher:
[Washington, D.C.] : General Land Office
Scale:
Scale [ca. 1:6,500,000]
Language:
English
Notes:
Outline map of the United States and Middle America showing proposed routes of the Pacific Rail Road and its branches in connection with the various systems of existing and unfinished rail roads from the Mississippi Valley to the Atlantic and Gulf coasts.
Includes tables of distances, recapitulation and lake route.
In upper right: Senate Mis. doc. no. 54. 4 Sess. 33 Cong.
Notes (exhibitions):
Exhibited: "America transformed. Part 1: the United States expands westward," organized by the Norman B. Leventhal Map & Education Center at the Boston Public Library, 2019.
Identifier:
06_01_009761
Call #:
G3301.P3 1854 .S74
Barcode:
39999065663070
LCCN:
98688319