The California Historical Society is pleased to announce the addition of fifty-four nineteenth and early twentieth century maps to their Digital Library. The maps represent a sampling of unique and rare titles held in the archives of the California Historical Society. Particular highlights include two maps printed by the first African-American lithographer, Grafton Tyler Brown. Both cadastral maps, dating from 1868, depict real estate tracts in San Francisco and Alameda counties. Southern California is also beautifully represented in the hand-colored Map of a Portion of Los Angeles County Showing the Abel Stearns’ Ranchos, dating from 1874.
Funding to digitize these maps was generously provided by the Henry Mayo Newhall Foundation and by David Rumsey. The high-resolution scanning was provided by Luna Imaging, Inc.
Image: Lines of the Pacific Electric Railway in Southern California. Map 627, California Historical Society.
