Guide Map of The City of San Francisco compiled from the Official Surveys & Engraved Expressly For Langley’s San Francisco Directory 1884

Langley’s splendid city directory plan: one of the most successful pre-1906 maps of San Francisco.

Guide Map of The City of San Francisco compiled from the Official Surveys & Engraved Expressly For Langley’s San Francisco Directory 1884

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SKU: NL-01203 Category: Tag:
Cartographer(s): Henry G. Langley
Date: 1884
Place: San Francisco
Dimensions: 63 x 50.5 cm (24.7 x 20 in)
Condition Rating: VG

Description

This is an attractive city plan of San Francisco published in the year 1884. It offers a look at an interesting look at the city of San Francisco near the end of the 19th century, before the earthquake of 1906. Notable features include ranchos, the cemeteries at Lone Mountain, the Southern Pacific Railroad lines arriving from the southern peninsula, the Alms House Tract (Laguna Honda hospital today), Spring Valley Water Company reservoir, and more.

Golden Gate Park is simply called “Park.” Several spurious street names are shown in the Marina, including Tonguin and Lewis. These were planned to be on landfill but were never actually created; Tonguin Street is instead Marina Boulevard and Lewis is Marina Green Drive.

Also, interesting is the depiction of the Golden Gate Race Course, which opened in 1874 to great fanfare with a $25,000 race — the largest purse ever offered in America. By the time this map was published, the race track was near its end (officially in 1895), and indeed on the map we see the city grid superimposed on the course. By 1900, developer Fernando Nelson had purchased much of the area and begun building homes, many of which are still there today.

The map was included in Langley’s San Francisco Directory. The verso presents an advertisement for Carvill Manufacturing Company, importers and manufactures of “Fine Carriages of Every Description.”

Cartographer(s):

Henry G. Langley

Henry G. Langley was a prominent figure in 19th-century San Francisco, best known for his role in publishing city directories. Starting in the 1850s, his “Langley’s San Francisco Directory” became an essential resource, chronicling the city’s evolution.

These directories, which are precursors to today’s phone books, listed information about residents, their professions, addresses, and also showcased ads from local businesses. They also contained comprehensive details about the city’s streets, government entities, churches, schools, and more.

With San Francisco undergoing rapid growth due to the California Gold Rush, Langley’s directories offer an invaluable snapshot of its transformation into a major American city. As the city expanded, so did the scope of Langley’s work, with directories eventually encompassing not just San Francisco’s core, but also its surrounding areas. With the advent of the telephone and subsequent telephone directories, the significance of city directories like Langley’s dwindled. Nevertheless, his contributions remain an integral part of San Francisco’s historical fabric. Many of these directories have since been digitized, offering a window into the city’s storied past for anyone with an interest.

Condition Description

Some expertly-repaired tears, especially visible on the verso.

References

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