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Source Description
Sectional interest in controlling the West was particularly evident in the Pacific Railroad Surveys, conducted from 1853-54 under the direction of then Secretary of War, Jefferson Davis. Four east-west traverses, designed to satisfy both northern and southern sectional interests, were surveyed in order to determine the most practical route for the first trans-continental railroad. The potential routes were delineated on a “hurried“ map prepared by Lt. G.K. Warren in 1855, shortly after the surveys were completed. Although none of the four routes was selected in its entirety, the first trans-continental railroad followed a mid-continental route connecting Omaha and San Francisco. Begun during the war, this rail line was not completed until 1869, four years after the war ended.
Scholar Source Context
Document identity
localId
1257b836d
label
Map of routes for a Pacific railroad
core
obj
dtoType
map
pageCount
1
Source metadata
id
1257b836d
contentType
map
stage
normalized
title
Map of routes for a Pacific railroad
description
Sectional interest in controlling the West was particularly evident in the Pacific Railroad Surveys, conducted from 1853-54 under the direction of then Secretary of War, Jefferson Davis. Four east-west traverses, designed to satisfy both northern and southern sectional interests, were surveyed in order to determine the most practical route for the first trans-continental railroad. The potential routes were delineated on a “hurried“ map prepared by Lt. G.K. Warren in 1855, shortly after the surveys were completed. Although none of the four routes was selected in its entirety, the first trans-continental railroad followed a mid-continental route connecting Omaha and San Francisco. Begun during the war, this rail line was not completed until 1869, four years after the war ended.
date
["1855"]
year
1855
rights
No known copyright restrictions.
rightsUri
No known restrictions on use.
reuseAllowed
no restrictions
language
English
identifierLocal
06_01_006555
creators
Warren, G. K. (Gouverneur Kemble), 1830-1882
institution
Boston Public Library
collections
Norman B. Leventhal Map & Education Center Collection
subjects
Railroads--West (U.S.)--Maps
Pacific railroads--Explorations and surveys--Maps
West (U.S.)--Maps
subjectsGeographic
North and Central America
United States
Western United States
genreBasic
Maps
typeOfResource
Cartographic
country
United States
thumbnailUrl
largeImageUrl
pageCount
1
source
import
pubPlace
[Washington, D.C.]
publisher
Office of P. R. R. Surveys
Source extras
institutionArkId
sf268508b
collectionArkId
41688024w
schema:latitude
51.52604
schema:longitude
131.16073
extent
1 map : hand col. ; 52 x 57 cm.
notes
Relief shown by hachures and spot heights.
Appears in the U.S. War Dept.'s Report of the Secretary of War on the several Pacific railroad explorations, 1855.
"This map is a hurried compilation of all the authentic surveys and is designed to exhibit the relations of the different routes to each other. An elaborate map on scale of 1:3,000,000 is being compiled and is in an advanced state."
hasTranscription
no
dcId
1257b836d
type
map
Single page context
seq
1
pageIndex
0
type
photo
mediaId
587176e8084ea0c6