If you studied Geography/Cartography at any of the colleges in SoCal in the 80’s and 90’s, you might remember Professor Norman Thrower at UCLA. You also might remember his book “Maps and Civilization”. Professor Thrower turned 100 years old last year. Sadly he passed away on September 2, 2020.
Check out this article written last year about him.
In March 1853, Congress appropriated $150,000 to survey proposed routes for a transcontinental railroad. The United States Army’s Corps of Topographical Engineers embarked on the work. There were five surveys conducted. One went from St. Paul, Minnesota to Puget Sound, where Seattle was later founded. Another traveled from St. Louis to San Francisco. A third started in what became Oklahoma and headed for San Pedro south of Los Angeles. Then, there was a route from Texas to San Diego. Finally, there was a survey that traveled the Pacific coast from San Diego to Puget Sound.
Between 1856 and 1861, eleven large volumes of published reports from the surveys were issued by the federal government. They included Continue reading
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