An Early Road Map of the Southwest

Fantastic early automobile map of the Desert Regions between Southern California and Phoenix, published in 1915 by Albert G. Thurston and drawn by D.C. McClain.

The desert map is quite extraordinary, providing a blend of topographical, highway and other details at a time when the Automobile map was a nascent artform, reliant upon other map traditions and sources.

The map is exceptional in its treatment of the small towns, mining regions and other curious places which thrived western Arizona, Southern Nevada and the Desert regions of Southern California in the late 19th and early 20th Century, at a time when automobile travel was still in its infancy. The legend brings to bear the nascency of this form of travel, locating:

• Stations without water
• Water only
• Meals and Gas
• Hotel, Repairs, and Supplies
• Cities and Towns
• State Highways or Good Roads
• Fair or Secondary Roads
• Poor or Wagon Roads
• County Boundary Lines
• Elevations
• Gross Washes
• Sand

The present map is extremely rare. We were unable to locate any other examples of the map.