San Francisco to Reno

Illustrated strip map showing the progress of U.S. Highway 40 connecting San Francisco to Reno.

The 1960 Winter Olympic Games were held in Squaw Valley, California at a site that was undeveloped at the time the decision was made to host there in 1955. As such, significant infrastructure improvements would be necessary to facilitate transportation to the facilities, and work on upgrades to U.S. Highway 40 began in 1956.

This map, drawn by Gerald Eddy and issued by Harold’s Club (a Reno casino) in 1959, shows the progress of such updates between San Francisco and Reno, the closest “big city” to Squaw Valley. The strip map format presents a linear route superimposed over approximated topographical detail and begins at San Francisco on the first panel. U.S. Highway 40 then proceeds across California to Sacramento, with signs along the way notifying the reader of their proximity to Harold’s Club. On the verso, the route continues through the Sierra Nevada and across the state border to Reno, the “Gateway to the 1960 Winter Olympics.”