Map of the Union Central Great Trans-Continental Railroad and Its Connections from the Missouri River to the Pacific Coast

Cartographer: George A. Crofutt, publisher; issued as a fold-out plate in Crofutt’s Trans-Continental Tourist’s Guide (ca. 1871–1873)

Year: 1874

Printed in long “strip-map” format, this promotional piece tracks the newly completed Union and Central Pacific main line in a bold black ribbon from Omaha across Wyoming, Utah, and Nevada to San Francisco Bay. Hundreds of tiny place-names, siding stops, and mountain passes run parallel to the track, giving travelers mile-by-mile reference points for every water tank and station. Radiating webs of thinner lines show feeder railroads east of the Missouri and proposed branches into Idaho, Colorado, and the Comstock mining districts. A fare table at the right lists through-ticket prices from San Francisco to ports around the world, underscoring the route’s global reach, while the lower margin is ringed with advertisements for bankers, insurance firms, sewing machines, and “Fine Gold Chains.” Compact yet information-rich, the map served as both a pocket navigation aid and a rolling billboard for businesses eager to reach America’s first coast-to-coast rail passengers.