Map of Terre Haute, Indiana

City plan of Terre Haute with rail lines brightly colored in manuscript.

This linen backed folding map is based on a city plan of Terre Haute designed and published by The Viquesney Company. Although it was originally designed as a detailed street map, this version of the map was used in the central engineering department (C.E. Office on the front cover) of the Pennsylvania Railroad archives and updated (by hand) with track ownership information into the early 1950’s.

A custom legend identifies the tracks of four companies, with the Penn R.R. dominating much of the city’s railroad scene. Manuscript annotations identify other items of interest to the railroad, including rail yards, passenger/freight stations, and rail connections.

In addition, the map shows an interesting midcentury transportation configuration a few decades prior to Penn R.R.’s merger with the New York Central in 1968. The resulting company, the Penn Central, declared bankruptcy in 1970 (the largest filing at the time) and many of its lines were eventually taken over by Amtrak. A hundred years earlier, the Pennsylvania Railroad was the largest corporation in the world and paid out annual shareholder dividends for over 100 consecutive years, showing just how rapidly and completely railroading fortunes could change.