Map of San Francisco issued on occasion of the Knights Templar Parade of 1883.
Bancroft’s Official Guide Map of the City and County of San Francisco, Compiled from Official Sources in Surveyor’s Office…1883
Out of stock
Description
This is a map of San Francisco, published in the year 1883. It shows the northeastern part of the city, stretching north-south from San Francisco Bay to Islais Creek, and east-west from the waterfront to about 8th Ave, with parts of the Presidio, Golden Gate Park, and the area around Laguna Honda reservoir.
The issue of this map is certainly linked to the Knights Templar parade which took place in San Francisco on August 20th, 1883. This was an especially active year for the San Francisco Knights Templar, as many members from Boston made their way to California. The New York Times reported the following day that, in addition to local residents, some 70,000 visitors lined the streets of the city at 8 am to watch the procession, the route of which is marked in red with a numbered key on this map. Surely the astute Bancroft Company knew that an up-to-date map would be a popular item for sale. The Times declared the parade to be an unqualified success, with cheers heard along the entire route.
The map also depicts many of the interesting features of late 19th century San Francisco, including now-changed street names in the Marina, the cemeteries of Lone Mountain, and various waterworks and railroads.
Finally, a large inset skeleton map shows the Bay Area, with interesting information on railroad lines.
Cartographer(s):
Hubert Howe Bancroft (May 5, 1832 – March 2, 1918) was an American historian and ethnologist who wrote, published and collected works concerning the western United States, Texas, California, Alaska, Mexico, Central America and British Columbia.
In March 1852, Bancroft was provided with an inventory of books to sell and was sent to the booming California city of San Francisco to set up a West Coast regional office of the firm. Bancroft was successful in building his company, entering the world of publishing in the process. He also became a serious collector of books, building a collection numbering into the tens of thousands of volumes.
In 1868, he resigned from his business in favor of his brother, A. L. Bancroft. He had accumulated a great library of historical material and abandoned business to devote himself entirely to writing and publishing history.
Condition Description
Excellent. Flattened and pocket tear expertly repaired.
