The Golden Era [and] The Golden Area

A pair of charming pictorial maps reflecting upon California’s early days.

Combining a little bit of historical revisionism with a healthy dose of humor, this pair of pictorial maps paints a largely fictional snapshot of California’s famous frontier days. They were designed by noted cartographer Don Bloodgood and published to celebrate the 100th anniversary of the 1849 Gold Rush.

Both images reflect the artist’s bold color schemes and whimsical styles and include numerous vignettes of local landmarks, cartoon figures, and landscape details. Illustrations along the edge, drawn by Frank Duarte, provide a more realistic (though still idyllic) impression of the actual time and place.

The Golden Era focuses on downtown San Francisco and includes a racially tinged depiction of Chinatown, numerous sites of future construction, and notorious Alcatraz Island. The Golden Area refers to the Mother Lode District around Sutter’s Mill, and it shows prominent boomtowns that sprung up during the second half of the 19th century. A number of prospectors, each depicted in various states of joy or misery, reflect on the boom or bust lifestyle embodied by the Gold Rush days.