11/25/25

Hammond's Descriptive Atlas of Panama and the Isthmian Canal is a small early‑20th‑century atlas published by the New York map firm C. S. Hammond & Company, focused specifically on Panama and the then‑new interoceanic canal across the isthmus.​

Publication details

• It was issued by C. S. Hammond & Co., a major American commercial map publisher based in New York that produced many school and popular atlases.​
• A brief notice describes it as a 16‑page work containing maps, illustrations, and descriptive text, dated around 1912, when the Panama Canal project was nearing completion.​

Content and features

• The atlas includes detailed maps of the Panama Canal Zone and the isthmus, showing the canal route, locks, approaches, and surrounding terrain, along with broader maps of the Republic of Panama for geographic context.​
• It also contains topographic information (mountain ranges and rivers), transportation networks (railroads and proposed lines), settlements, and short explanatory text and illustrations intended for a general readership interested in the canal’s construction and strategic importance.​

Historical purpose and significance

• The atlas appeared during a period of intense public interest in the canal, after the United States assumed control of the Canal Zone in 1904 and as construction advanced toward opening in 1914.​
• It served as an accessible cartographic overview of the engineering work and geopolitical significance of the Panama Canal, fitting into a broader wave of specialized maps and atlases produced to explain the “isthmian canal” to students, investors, and the general public.

Source: Perplexity.ai

-- G. Ly