Birds-eye View Map Showing Automobile Routes of Chicago and adjacent country.

Rare 1914 pocket map highlighting the road network around Chicago.

This lovely bird’s eye view, oriented to the west, skillfully illustrates the large plains, rolling hills, dense cities, and numerous rivers that can be found across northern Illinois, southern Wisconsin, and northeastern Indiana. It was published by Rand McNally & Co. in Chicago in 1914 to highlight the region’s rapidly expanding road network.

Primary routes are carefully colored to reflect their surface composition – white (paved), yellow (improved – i.e. macadam or gravel), and green (probably dirt). This was critical information for the motorist hoping to plan a day trip when there was a chance of rain! An index at the bottom of the sheet lists the numerous towns made accessible by the automobile – an increasingly popular form of ‘liberating’ transportation (when compared to the rigidity of train schedules).

The geographic scope presented within the image is an interesting one, focusing on southern Wisconsin to a far greater extent than northern Illinois or Indiana. This likely reflects the contemporary concentration of ‘good’ roads, which were less likely to be present in rural communities. Furthermore, the complexities of early automobile travel (mechanical issues, limited amenities, etc.) severely restricted the ability for long-distance travel. Shorter trips across densely populated areas were far more popular until the technology, infrastructure, and cost of motor tourism improved.

The map is rare and unlisted in OCLC/Worldcat or any of my market or auction records. One example is known in a local private collection.