One of the earliest maps of the United States to show the Standard Time Zones introduced on November 18, 1883.

This very large railroad map is a striking production, with vibrant full color by time zone and “Chicago & Alton R.R.” splashed in large red lettering across the top. The system had its origins in 1847, when the Alton and Sangamon Railroad was chartered for the purpose of connecting the Illinois state capital at Springfield with Alton on the Mississippi River. By 1864 it was known as the Chicago & Alton and had been extended to serve Chicago and St. Louis, with later extensions to Jefferson City and Kansas City, Missouri. The railroad was purchased by the Baltimore and Ohio in 1931.

The map is densely populated with information. County, state and territorial boundaries are indicated; major topographical features are represented by hachuring; and river systems are noted. Double black lines indicate roads and solid lines railroads, with the Chicago & Alton network highlighted in the Midwest. Lending visual appeal and interest are the large title block with its variety of ornamental type, as well as inset illustrations of Chicago & Alton dining cars and “Palace Reclining Chair Cars.”

This must be among the earliest maps to show the new system of standard time zones recently inaugurated in North America. Hitherto individual cities and towns had calibrated their time according to local solar time, with the result that, for every degree of longitude separating two localities, their local times would differ by roughly four minutes. With the advent of rail travel this became a colossal headache as hundreds of railroads published schedules based on their own determinations of local time. Finally, William F. Allen, editor of the Traveler’s Official Railway Guide, proposed a system of five standard time zones covering Canada and the United States. These were implemented by railroads on November 18, 1883 and rapidly adopted by municipalities.

This map was first issued bearing a date of 1883, but that edition shows wash color by state only, has no delineation of time zones, and lacks the inset “Explanation of Standard Railroad Time” (I also note that a line reading “A. J. Moore, Ticket Agent” has been replaced on our map with “W.E. Hoyt, Eastern Passenger Agent.”) The 1883 edition does not appear to be all that rare, as I readily find examples at the Library of Congress, the Rumsey Collection and elsewhere, as well as a copy sold for $1125 at Swann Galleries on Dec. 4, 2014. Our “time zone” edition seems however to be extremely rare, with OCLC listing only two institutional holdings and no record of any examples having appeared on the antiquarian market.

References

Modelski, Railroad Maps, 61 (1883 ed.) Phillips, Maps of America, p. 937 (1883 ed.) Rumsey 3547 (1883 ed.) OCLC locates our edition only at the University of Virginia (137224338) and American Antiquarian Society (876879330).