This layer is a georeferenced image of the first "road" atlas of California. According to Tom Lennon of Thomas Brothers Map Co. in Los Angeles, this atlas is rare; they have five copies of it in their L.A. office, and he has never seen any other copies. He thinks the original issue was very small. Bancroft has no copies, but does have a copy of Thomas Bros. Atlas of Western Cities and Towns (no date but library note says acquired in 1937) which duplicates some of this atlas's material (smaller S.F. map, larger color Pasadena map) and adds more on cities in adjoining western states. Lennon said this atlas was "a put together thing by George Thomas." He also said there was an Atlas of the San Francisco Bay Area by the company, produced for the World's Fair of 1936. Maps are printed with and without color. Bound with three illustrated promotional pamphlets advertising various scenic areas of California. The original map appears in 'Thomas Bros. Recreational and Statistical Atlas, California.' The historic map layers in the Google Earth Rumsey Map Collection have been selected by David Rumsey from his large collection of historical maps, as well as some from other collections with which he collaborates. All the maps contain rich information about the past and represent a sampling of time periods, scales, and cartographic art, resulting in visual history stories that only old maps can tell. Each map has been georeferenced by Rumsey, thus creating unique digital map images that allow the old maps to appear in their correct places on the modern globe. Some of the maps fit perfectly in their modern spaces, while othersgenerally earlier period mapsreveal interesting geographical misconceptions of their time. Cultural features on the maps can be compared to the modern satellite views using the slider bars to adjust transparency. The result is an exploration of time as well as space, a marriage of historic cartographic masterpieces with innovative contemporary software tools.
This layer is presented in the WGS84 coordinate system for web display purposes. Downloadable data are provided in native coordinate system or projection.
