Map of Minnesota

Steel engraved map of Minnesota, colored by hand using stencils.

This somewhat cluttered map of Minnesota captures the primary mechanism of the state’s tremendous growth in the final quarter of the 19th century – the railroad. Dark black lines show routes labeled individually by operator and concentrated heavily in the southern half of the state, with only a few lines extending into the northern frontier. Here remained a large Native American presence, including reservations, agencies, and towns, but all such references are completely omitted from the image.

European place names, geographic features, and surveyed townships are more commonly found in the lower counties. Hundreds of lakes, including an oversimplified outline of Red Lake, are also depicted across the image, giving credence to Minnesota’s nickname, “The Land of 10,000 Lakes.”

The map was published in Chicago by H.R. Page & Co. in 1886.