Premier Series Map of Michigan

The main roads of the Wolverine State during the early 1920s.

This uncommon wall map of Michigan was published around 1921 by the Geographical Publishing Company of Chicago. A series of dates captures its interesting evolution – the Premier Series title block shows a copyright date of 1908, while the map itself is dated 1918 near the top. However, the town index on the back uses the census data from 1920, and the overprinting of the primary automobile routes in green was likely done shortly thereafter.

These primary thoroughfares, probably not all paved, capture the embryonic network of roads that was beginning to surpass railways as America’s preferred form of leisure transportation. The majority of county seats (shown with small red dots) are connected to the system, allowing for a flexibility for statewide travel that was previously unknown. The verso of the sheet lists the various auto trails and their respective pole markings, as well as provides the population information for scores of towns and cities.