Description

This authoritative general mapping of Chicago features (printed double-sided) features two maps, and was made by Rand, McNally & Company (founded 1856), the nationally important Chicago-based map house.  The maps capture the city in 1910, when Chicago was one of the fastest growing cities in the world, with an official population of 2,185,283 (having grown from 1.1 million in 1890), fuelled by waves of immigration from Europe and migration from other parts of the country.

The first map showcases the ‘The Principal Part of Chicago’, being the urban core, labelling all streets, outlining parklands (tinted in green) and delineating the extensive tramway and railway systems.  The map on the verso, ‘Chicago and Suburbs showing the City Limits’, embraces the makings of the future ‘Chicagoland’, showing Chicago’s city limits and the rapidly growing suburban areas.  The map folds into its original printed covers bearing the title and pictorial advertisements.

The map is part of sequence of continually updated Chicago maps in this particular form made by Rand McNally between 1892 and 1923; we have not been able to trace another example of the present issue.