Rand McNally Official 1922-1923 Auto Trails Map District No. 21

A road trip through the America South in the early 1920s.

This uncommon pocket map of the Southeastern United States was published in 1922 by the prominent Chicago firm of Rand McNally. During this era of rapid infrastructure growth, the company maintained a dedicated staff to track the constant fluctuations in America’s road networks. The map captures a unique moment in travel history: a period when established “Named Auto Trails” (like the Dixie Highway) were beginning to compete with newly organized state highway systems.

One side of the sheet covers the road network across the Florida Panhandle, Mississippi, Alabama, Georgia, and South Carolina, while the reverse is dedicated to Florida. Rand McNally used a specific hierarchy of line styles to distinguish between paved, improved, dirt, and “unimportant” roads. This was essential information for the 1920s motorist, as official highway status did not always ensure a well-paved surface, and signage was often limited to simple colored stripes on utility poles.

A notable feature of this edition is the vibrant red overprinting used to promote local businesses catering to the auto tourist, specifically hotels and service garages. These participating advertisers helped offset the map’s production costs and provided travelers with a curated list of “recommended” stops. Tourist camps, a precursor to the modern motel, are also identified with small triangles spaced along the primary routes. This map remains a definitive document of the “Auto Trail” era, published just four years before the federal government standardized the U.S. Highway System in 1926.