The Cartographic History of San Francisco
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“This is the earliest obtainable map of San Francisco Bay. The map may seem a little hard to decipher by modern standards. It is oriented to the Northeast, the peninsula emerging from the right is the location of the modern urban center of modern Francisco, with the Golden Gate being the tiny entrance into he larger bay. The general form of San Pablo Bay, which leads into Suisun Bay is evident at the top of the map. The greater part of San Francisco Bay, extending towards the right side of the map is significantly truncated. The map identifies 21 place names, including Alcatraz, the Presidio, Merced, the Mission of San Francisco, and other landmarks, alphanumerically via a table integrated into the title cartouche...La Perouse did not personally survey the Bay, instead he most likely obtained the data for this map from the Spanish pilot Francisco Antonio Mourelle de la Rúa (1750-1820) in Manilla...La Perouse died tragically on a shipwreck near the Solomon Islands. His journals were shipped back to Europe from Australia before the shipwreck and posthumously published in 1797, along with an accompanying atlas volume, from which this map was drawn, Atlas du voyage de La Perouse.” geographicus.com
“Very rare and important chart of San Francisco Bay, the result of the first scientific mapping of the Bay. The chart had a wide influence upon later maps of the area. The chart, with copies and adaptations of it, served to the end of the Mexican period and formed the substantial basis of the earliest ones produced under the American regime. It was deficient only in the region beyond Carquinez Strait. The chart of the entrance contains additional hydrographic data pertinent to entering the port and reaching the chief places of anchorage. Accompanying the chart are elevation views depicting the approaches to the bay and the hazards to navigation.” davidrumsey.com
“Nice example of Thomas O. Larkin's map of the Sacramento Valley, including the newly discovered gold regions, the first printed map of the gold regions. Thomas Oliver Larkin was an early California merchant, who served as U.S. Consul to the Province of California and U.S. Consul to the Republic of California, following the Bear Flag Revolt. His 2 letters to the president in June 1848 are two of the earliest communications of the discovery of gold in California sent to the East and his map of the Sacramento Valley was the first printed map to show the Gold Regions. The map shows Ranchos in the Central Valley and along the American river has "Gold Region" on both sides. The original was traced from a map prepared for Bidwell in 1844.” raremaps.com
Image: davidrumsey.com
“The title words including the Gold Region and the designation of the Mining District on the map make this map by Thomas Oliver Larkin, the first and last U.S. Consul to Mexican California, one of the key maps of California history. As Carl Wheat points out in his great cartobibliography, The Maps of the California Gold Region, it ranks as “one of the earliest (if not the earliest)” to denote the discovery area along the American River. In creating this map, Larkin simply took the best-known map of the Sacramento Valley, John Bidwell’s manuscript map of 1844, traced it, and made additions. As delineated by Larkin, the Mining District occupied two ranchos bordering both banks of the American River: Rio de los Americanos Rancho of the late William Leidesdorff and Rancho San Juan of Joel P Dedmund. Larkin sent his tracing back to Boston for publication, and publisher T. Wiley, Jr., for protection, placed the lithographed, hand-tinted map in a protective black cloth folder with the magical words Gold Region gilded on the front cover. On the inside cover, Wiley added a paper label with the words “A Correct Survey Of The Gold Region California.” With a copyright date of 1848, this stands as one of the earliest examples of a publisher taking advantage of the gold fever that was just beginning to sweep across the nation. Given the map’s lack of detail, it can hardly be called a “correct survey”.” californiamapsociety.org
”The map shows three small sections in outline color, corresponding to the grants to Senora Briones, the claim of the heirs of Col. J.A. King, and the claim of Senor Pana under a Mexican grant. The streets, original lot numbers, government reserver, Yerba Buena Cemetery, and the earliest wharfs are shown, along with Portsmouth Square and Montgomery Fort... William Eddy, surveyor for the town of San Francisco, created this first street map of the city in 1849. Only three years prior to the publication of the map, the United States had taken possession of the portion of California including San Francisco, and the next year, in 1847, an ordinance changed the city’s name from Yerba Buena to San Francisco. That same year, Jasper O'Farrell completed a survey of San Francisco covering 800 acres to Leavenworth and Fourth streets. Eddy’s map extends the city limits to Larkin, Eighth, and Townsend streets. The next year, California became a state.” neatlinemaps.com loc.gov
"Beneath contemporary streets of San Francisco lie the remains of many sailing ships that brought people to San Francisco during the gold rush that began in 1849. The ships have different stories, but many were used at storage as the city's shoreline was expanded outward around them by landfill--some of these and other abandoned ships burned in fires and were buried afterward." San Francisco Maritime National Historic Park
“This map reflects the pervasive bias against the Chinese in California and in turn further fostered the hysteria. It was published as part of an official report of a Special Committee established by the San Francisco Board of Supervisors "on the Condition of the Chinese Quarter." The Report resulted from a dramatic increase in hostility to the Chinese, particularly because many Chinese laborers had been driven out of other Western states by vigilantes and sought safety in San Francisco...From the report: "The Chinese brought here with them and have successfully maintained and perpetuated the grossest habits of bestiality practiced by the human race." The map highlights the Committee's points, particularly the pervasiveness of gambling, prostitution and opium use. The Report concludes with a recommendation that the Chinese be driven out of the City by stern enforcement of the law.” PJ Mode Collection at Cornell
“The Spring Valley Water Company was a private company that held a monopoly on water rights in San Francisco from 1860 to 1930. Run by land barons, its 70-year history was fraught with corruption, land speculation, favoritism towards the moneyed elite, and widespread ill will from the general populace."
"In 1850 San Francisco was a treeless windswept dunescape, receiving about 22 inches of rain a year, mostly in the winter. The few creeks running through the land could hardly support the instant city rising from the sand. It was clear that water would have to come from outside the city limits, and whoever controlled the water rights and delivery would control the city and its growth, and have unparalleled opportunities for development and great wealth."
"George Ensign rose to the top in a competitive field shrouded in secrecy. The California Legislature had passed an act of eminent domain, permitting the taking of privately held land and water rights for the common good of cities. Thus empowered, George Ensign was able to seize rights of way to store and deliver water to San Francisco. In 1860 George Ensign incorporated the Spring Valley Water Works (later changed to Company), soon to become the state’s most powerful monopoly. For decades to come the power of eminent domain gave for the elite owning the water company an opportunity to acquire empires in real estate with land increasing in value as the water flowed in.” foundsf.org
https://www.loc.gov/item/sanborn00813_008/
“Unlike many other antique maps of San Francisco, this one is covered in illustrations highlighting points of interest and historical events. The streets are essentially the same and they’re all labeled well enough that you can see if your apartment used to be a cemetery, a slaughterhouse, or an old railroad car barn. The map was originally mass-produced for tourists and I’ve seen a few different copies online. One was found in the forgotten depths of someone’s closet in 2011, and a Redditor mentioned in the comment thread that they had an original framed copy on their wall at home. In 2012, a copy of the map sold on eBay for $1,400.” The Bold Italic
“Harrison Godwin (1899 - 1984) was an American cartoonist and hotelier active in California during the early to middle parts of the 20th century. Harrison was a cartoonist with the Los Angeles Examiner and published two daily strips. With regard to cartographic material he published just three maps, San Francisco, Hollywood and North America, all between the years of 1927 and 1929. The San Francisco and Hollywood maps were first and second maps in a planned series of American cities, each taking some three months to complete. Curiously, no further maps in the series materialized. In addition to his cartoon work Harrison, in partnership with his brother Fred, owned Carmel's La Playa Hotel, where Harrison worked as a manager. Harrison and Fred Godwin and are credited with popularizing Carmel as a tourist destination. Little else is known of his life.” geographicus.com
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