Panoramic Maps of California. The panoramic map was a popular cartographic form used to depict U.S. and Canadian cities and towns during the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries (1847 to 1929.) Known also as bird's-eye views, perspective maps, and aero views, panoramic maps are nonphotographic representations of cities portrayed as if viewed from above at an oblique angle. Although not generally drawn to scale, they show street patterns, individual buildings, and major landscape features in perspective.
The panoramic map was a popular cartographic form used to depict U.S. and Canadian cities and towns during the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries (1847 to 1929.) Known also as bird's-eye views, perspective maps, and aero views, panoramic maps are nonphotographic representations of cities portrayed as if viewed from above at an oblique angle. Although not generally drawn to scale, they show street patterns, individual buildings, and major landscape features in perspective.
Panoramic maps graphically depict the vibrant life of a city. Harbors are shown choked with ships, often to the extent of constituting hazards to navigation. Trains speed along railroad tracks, at times on the same roadbed with locomotives and cars headed in the opposite direction. People and horsedrawn carriages fill the streets, and smoke belches from the stacks of industrial plants. Urban and industrial development in post-Civil War America is vividly portrayed in the maps.
Victorian America's panoramic maps are quite remarkable in the perspective of the cities they capture. Most panoramic maps were published independently, not as plates in an atlas or in a descriptive geographical book. Preparation and sale of nineteenth-century panoramas were motivated by civic pride and the desire of the city fathers to encourage commercial growth. Many views were prepared for and endorsed by chambers of commerce and other civic organizations and were used as advertisements of a city's commercial and residential potential. These maps reveal much about the great contrasts and contradictions of the industrial age and the progressive era.
Preparation of panoramic maps involved a vast amount of painstakingly detailed labor. For each project a frame or projection was developed, showing in perspective the pattern of streets. The artist then walked in the street, sketching buildings, trees, and other features to present a complete and accurate landscape as though seen from an elevation of 2,000 to 3,000 feet.
Panoramic maps graphically depict the vibrant life of a city. Harbors are shown choked with ships, often to the extent of constituting hazards to navigation. Trains speed along railroad tracks, at times on the same roadbed with locomotives and cars headed in the opposite direction. People and horsedrawn carriages fill the streets, and smoke belches from the stacks of industrial plants. Urban and industrial development in post-Civil War America is vividly portrayed in the maps.
Here is a complete list of the city maps included in this collection. Where you see a city listed several times, there are several different maps - either maps created in different years and/or by different map making companies.
| 1. Auburn 1887? 2. Bakersfield c1901 3. Berkeley 1909? 4. Coronado 188-? 5. Eureka 1902 6. Fresno 1901 7. Healdsburg / Russian River Valley 1876 8. Lakeport 1888 9. Los Angeles 1871 10. Los Angeles / Brooklyn Hights 1877 11. Los Angeles / Wilmington (Los Angeles) / Santa Monica 1877 12. Los Angeles 1888 13. Los Angeles 1891 14. Los Angeles 1894 15. Los Angeles 1909 16. Los Angeles Metro Area 1909 17. Oakland 1899 18. Pasadena 1903 19. Placerville 1888 20. Pomona 1886 21. Sacramento 1850 22. Sacramento 1850 23. Sacramento 189-? 24. San Diego 1876 25. San Francisco 1846/1847 |
26. San Francisco 1851 27. San Francisco 1855 28. San Francisco 1860 29. San Francisco 1862 30. San Francisco 1864 31. San Francisco 1868 32. San Francisco 1875 33. San Francisco 1876 34. San Francisco 1878 35. San Gabriel 1893? 36. San Jacinto 1886 37. San Jose 1869 38. San Jose 1875 39. San Jose 1901 40. San Mateo 1905 41. San Pedro 1905? 42. Santa Barbara 1877 43. Santa Barbara 1896 44. Santa Barbara 1898 45. Santa Rosa 1876 46. Shasta 1856 47. Stockton 1895 48. Stockton 1895 49. Stockton 1895 50. Stockton 1895 51. Yreka 1884 |
Each map image on this CD is a super high resolution scan of an original panoramic map. Original maps were often as large as 36" x 36" or even larger. To offer all these maps at 100% detail, they are stored in either MRSid format or in JPEG 2000 format and require special viewers to be able to view all the details in these superb historical maps. Viewers and full viewing instructions for Windows computer platforms are included on this CD.
Below you will find an example of the enlargement ability of the maps contained on this CD. You will see how you can view a small snapshot of the image all the way up to an incredible level of detail at the highest resolutions. The below set of images comes from Mystic CT and gives an excellent example of the level of detail in these maps at various levels of "magnification".
(Smallest size of this image)
(Small portion enlarged 2 times)
(Small portion enlarged 3 times)
(Small portion enlarged 4 times)
(Small portion enlarged 5 times - this enlargement represents the full
original size of the map when printed at full scale.)
As you can see from the above images, each map offers hours of exploration and excitement as you explore the cities as they were 100 or more years ago.
These maps may be viewed on your computer or printed out. The software will allow you to size the maps to any level of detail you wish and either print out the entire map or just a portion of it. (Even full scale maps can be printed with a large enough printer - like the ones used in your neighborhood poster and print shops.)
To use this software, you must install the free Map Viewing software which is included on the CD. This is a 30 second process and will allow you to view and manipulate/print all the maps in this CD collection in full detail. There are versions for Windows platforms and full installation instructions are included on the CD.
