https://www.interstate-guide.com/maps/interstate_sys_map_1974.jpg
The 1974 Interstate System Map was one of my favorite things to look at as a young kid. Before I would sometimes get concerned with the deletrious effect of the highway system (I still think that it is a net positive,) I think the IHS was up there with the space program as big US postwar accomplishments. I think that it meant the potential to go to different places and see them; like California or the Southwest. And I use it every day.
I'm not sure how I found this map, think that my dad had a Rand-McNally Road Atlas that included it.
Heh. Completion by 1980? Whoops.
^ No worse than the original 1956 "expected completion" of 1975...
Those maps were routinely in the North American Road Atlas during the 1970s (I liked them quite a bit too). They phased them out some time after switching the cartographic base in 1980.
Quote from: jon daly on May 22, 2018, 10:53:55 AM
https://www.interstate-guide.com/maps/interstate_sys_map_1974.jpg
The 1974 Interstate System Map was one of my favorite things to look at as a young kid. Before I would sometimes get concerned with the deletrious effect of the highway system (I still think that it is a net positive,) I think the IHS was up there with the space program as big US postwar accomplishments. I think that it meant the potential to go to different places and see them; like California or the Southwest. And I use it every day.
I'm not sure how I found this map, think that my dad had a Rand-McNally Road Atlas that included it.
That map, or more likely updates to it in late 70's RMcN's, always fascinated me as well. I wish I had more complete memories of some late 70's road trips (NM/Colorado in 1977, first time to Florida in 1978) of how we'd have to hop on and off segments of interstate as they were still being completed.
Quote from: Rothman on May 22, 2018, 10:59:14 AM
Heh. Completion by 1980? Whoops.
Well over 90% of the original proposed system was complete by 1980. That's an A in most people's books.
There was never really one map that did it for me. My parents, aunts, uncles, and their friends had all kinds through the years, and I just couldn't avoid getting into them.
I started getting into atlases just as soon as I learned how to read and write. As soon as my parents bought new, updated editions of the Rand McNally, they'd give me the last one to do as I pleased. At first, I would mark them up with the new routes that were being completed in future editions, and then get even more creative with my fictional additions. Even today, those 1960s and 70s editions remain the gold standard of road mapping, compared to the glitzier 80s-current products.
It was that map, as well as roadtrips with my family that got me into it. When I was 7 or so, I recall being disappointed that my dad didn't take what I thought was the optimal route to Howe Caverns. But I didn't realize that I was not alone until the internet became big. I stumbled across kurumi.com and then a mailing list before finding this place around 8 years ago.
A 1956 AAA map of Michigan found in the attic of my grandfather's dairy when I was about 7 years old that showed the Mackinac Bridge under construction, US-16, US-12 still going through Kalamazoo, Battle Creek, Marshall and Jackson, and US-25. It was in rather rough shape, but I still have it.
(https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/49757135902_d50e4192a4_c.jpg)
I can't point to any one map so much as simply the Rand McNally road atlas, which my family would get once every couple of years as the old one got worn out. I still have a couple of them lying around, dating back to 1985. One of my favorite finds, though, was a 1957 Rand McNally road atlas (in excellent condition) on the bookshelf of my family's summer cottage in Maine.
Quote from: froggie on May 22, 2018, 12:10:28 PM
^ No worse than the original 1956 "expected completion" of 1975...
Actually originally was 1969 ... very optimistic!
Quote from: Beltway on May 23, 2018, 11:50:42 AM
Quote from: froggie on May 22, 2018, 12:10:28 PM
^ No worse than the original 1956 "expected completion" of 1975...
Actually originally was 1969 ... very optimistic!
"By 1964, experts say man will have established twelve colonies on the moon, ideal for family vacations." --©1952, U.S. Department of Moon
(https://www.commercialsurvey.com/images/lake_geauga.gif)
Though in my case it would have been the edition nearest to 1980/81 when I was in kindergarten.
For me it was the Rand McNally atlas that I found in my parents' china cabinet when I was barely old enough to read. I was amazed that I could find places that I had been or places where our relatives lived and how they were connected. Other things found in that cabinet that I read cover to cover were the World Almanac and the Sporting News book of baseball records. I was an odd child, needless to say.
What cemented my geekiness was the easy access to free maps at every gas station we stopped at. (This was the fifties and sixties.) My favorite was the Sohio map of Ohio.
Well, several... a Rand McNally road atlast from about the mid 1960s, just after the California 1964 Great Renumbering. A lovely Times Atlas of the World, not a road atlas but does show main roads and railroads, topography, historical sites, about as complete a world atlas as you can put in one volume. An early 1970s AAA atlas.
Quote from: theline on May 23, 2018, 10:01:46 PM
For me it was the Rand McNally atlas that I found in my parents' china cabinet when I was barely old enough to read. I was amazed that I could find places that I had been or places where our relatives lived and how they were connected. Other things found in that cabinet that I read cover to cover were the World Almanac and the Sporting News book of baseball records. I was an odd child, needless to say.
What cemented my geekiness was the easy access to free maps at every gas station we stopped at. (This was the fifties and sixties.) My favorite was the Sohio map of Ohio.
That does not seem odd at all to me. It reminds me a lot of myself. I mainly look up baseball stats online these days, but still thumb through atlases and almanacs regularly.
It seems like maps are a big factor in becoming a roads enthusiast.
The first one I can remember was an official GDOT state map we had at home. I distinctly remember that it had the straight-line diagrams of all the Interstates, so maybe the 1984-85 edition? It would have already been well out of date by that time (c. 1991ish), still showing nearby I-675 as under construction and GA 3 still going through the town centers in Clayton and Henry counties instead of being moved to the bypass with US 19/41 (which explained to me why everyone around me kept calling that road "highway 3" for some reason).
Hootenany, I love roadmaps and road atlases, but I dig street level ones, too. I'll have to see if I can find some old ones of my old stamping grounds.
You know it's funny that Jon mentioned that 1974 Interstate System map, because I still vaguely remember maps from the 1960's claiming that certain roads would be completed in 1974. As Rothman and froggie pointed out, there were a lot of maps that had these projected dates of completion, which never took place.
Quote from: D-Dey65 on May 24, 2018, 09:24:52 AM
You know it's funny that Jon mentioned that 1974 Interstate System map, because I still vaguely remember maps from the 1960's claiming that certain roads would be completed in 1974. As Rothman and froggie pointed out, there were a lot of maps that had these projected dates of completion, which never took place.
Similarly speaking: In today's world, many companies claim they'll build a store, building, concept, etc with a completion date of xx/20xx. Many of these projects are delayed; some are started and not completed, and some never even get a shovel in the ground.
Maybe one of the most expensive and glaring examples of such is the Fontainebleau hotel/casino in Las Vegas. Over $2 BILLION was spent on a 60 story building that never opened.
Quote from: kkt on May 22, 2018, 08:00:59 PM
Quote from: Rothman on May 22, 2018, 10:59:14 AM
Heh. Completion by 1980? Whoops.
Well over 90% of the original proposed system was complete by 1980. That's an A in most people's books.
The reason for the other 10% not being complete is due to delays and cancellations, especially in the metropolitan areas across the country. Of course, being from Chicago, I remember the I-494 proposal very well. And they were only a dozen years off, as I-70 through the Glenwood Canyon would not be opened until 1992.
This. The 1978 Washington State Highway Map and Guide featured detailed ramp diagrams of Interstates 5 and 90. I-405 wasn't included, so I had to draw it myself. Such detailed diagrams can't be used while driving, or remembered ahead of time. They must only be provided only for road geeks.
After seeing this, I had to go to the local chamber of commerce and get as many other state highway maps as I could grab. Remember when you could get actual useful information from tourist pamphlet stands, and not glorified advertisements? I went two times, and both times they gave me a stern talking-to, and kicked me out. They must have thought a kid collecting state highway maps was up to no good.
What I found was Utah had diagrams showing details around the exits, but not of the ramps themselves. (Faulty memory. Utah has full ramp diagrams too.) Oregon had simplified diagrams of the areas around their Interstates. No other state had anything similar.
As if it couldn't get any better, today Washington has Interchange Viewer (http://www.wsdot.wa.gov/mapsdata/tools/InterchangeViewer/default.htm), a collection of PDFs that give detailed information about the mileage positions of each ramp, intended for State Patrol collision reporting. They also have historic alignment notes. The northern-most interchange of I-705 gives the true north end of that designation, which comes before the actual end of the freeway.
(https://farm2.staticflickr.com/1759/42546730491_b49eba20a0_c.jpg) (https://flic.kr/p/27PH7EP)1978 Washington State Highway Map and Guide Interstate 5 ramp diagrams (https://flic.kr/p/27PH7EP) by Arthur Allen (https://www.flickr.com/photos/116988743@N07/), on Flickr
I was a budding roadgeek from about the age of 2.5-3, when I learned to read. But the map that nailed it for me was the Portland Cement map (late 1959) of the Interstate System; a fellow young geek (we were in 5th grade at the time) had acquired the map, which was my first look at the system as a whole. I got my own copy a few weeks later -- and had transferred the info (hand-drawn, of course) to a standard Shell U.S. map so I could add other routes I thought necessary (my friend did likewise, and we constantly compared notes, occasionally to the consternation of our teacher!). That map had deteriorated by the time I got into high school -- but I've always wondered if anyone had managed to retain a copy. Obviously meant to tout the fact that many of the Interstate routes were built with portland cement, it was certainly an eye-opening revelation!
The New Jersey official road map (1970s) probably did it for me. We had it for awhile hanging on our cellar door and I used to look at it all the time. I also loved looking through the Franklin county maps for my area. Good ol' map drawer.
For me, it would be the 2009 Pennsylvania State Atlas, made by American Map Company or something. It's still somewhat interesting, as it shows I-99 still incomplete between Tyrone and State College, as well as PA 60 between I-80 and US 22/US 30. I store the map in a cardboard box in the dining room, and it's in reasonable shape.
My dad was in the Wis State Patrol. He used to get these huge maps of Wisconsin from the weigh scales that the DOT would publish marking construction zones, and roads closed for their construction along with the associated detours. That did it for me. I wish I still had some of them. I used to draw on them as well as Rand McNally Road atlases, making my own roads, long before I knew I wasn't the only weird person in the world who did such things...
By the time I was 4, I could read road signs and knew how to get to most of the places around town. So for my 5th birthday, I received a Rand McNally atlas of eastern CT, and I studied nearly every major route leading from my hometown. I remember being fascinated by (former) Exit 100 off of I-395, the only 3 digit exit number in the state. I also remember being fascinated with high exit numbers. Fast forward over 20 years later, to my first multi-day solo road trip to Texas. I finally had a chance to drive past the highest exit number in the U.S, 880 off of I-10. 5 year old me would have been proud.
I'm now 28, and still keep a travel size road atlas in the back of my car just in case.
Growing up... My family would travel from Michigan to Alabama twice a year. I think one of the first maps that really grabbed my attention and started my world as a roadgeek, would be the official Tennessee state highway map. The north welcome center on I-75 near Jelico always gave them away for free. I'm sure they still do today... but I loved how on the back side it would show most of the interchange designs and exit numbers for all the interstates outside of the major cities. I think I was 5 or 6 years old when I first looked at that map.
Proud moment for me 4 years after that. My stubborn father broke down and finally asked me for directions on how to get off the Beachline near Orlando Airport after going through the same toll booth 3 times. LOL! Don't ask me how... I wasn't driving yet! Sure felt really good as a kid when the old man came to me for help for a state I have never been to before that. Just had my Florida map I picked up in Orlando International out at the right time.