Map of the Nashville, Chattanooga and St. Louis Ry. And Connections

Souvenir map promoting the railroad tourism of Civil War battlefields in the early 1920’s.

This bold map, full of activity, presents the United States in a geographically skewed form. Most western states have been greatly reduced in size, while others (see Tennessee) have been enlarged or otherwise distorted. This was done in an attempt to visually promote the network of the map’s publisher, the Nashville, Chattanooga and St. Louis Railway. The lines, shown in red, are concentrated in the south, with sleeping car service connecting to New York, Chicago, and Jacksonville.

Across the country, competing railroads and steamboat routes are also identified and labeled, while relief is depicted in basic hachure. Time zones, which were still somewhat novel in the first decades of the 20th century, are prominently noted as well. The image includes three inset maps which emphasize the accessibility of the region served by the N.C. & StL; the Panama Canal Zone, connections to southern Florida and the Caribbean, and an inset map of Mexico.

The verso is interesting for the numerous photographs which show various “attractions” along the railroad; including Lookout Mountain, the business section of Atlanta (which still shows horse drawn omnibuses) and black workers “cotton picking in Southland.” Accompanying the images is extensive text that reeks of the Lost Cause movement gaining momentum around the time of publication. “These battles were the result of the deep convictions of earnest men – God-fearing men – men who were willing to sacrifice everything for a principle…so long as such men lived the world need not be despaired of.”

Published in Chicago by the Poole Brothers in 1922 on behalf of the Nashville, Chattanooga and St. Louis Railway.