Thomas Bros Map moments 1915-2015

[SimMoonXP]

Looks like Thomas Bros map company just turned 100 years old in this year as of 2015. What is your favorite Thomas Bros Map moments? My favorite moments of Thomas Bros map was first time study the mapbook of 1990 San Diego County, and then I do hand drawn in that mapbook for fun. And then in very early part of Fall 1997, Thomas Bros Maps had a major introduction as made an awesome mapbook titles in Washington DC metro area. For now I have several hundreds of Thomas Guides mapbook. Is anyone still have Thomas Guides for now? I am still rely for Thomas Guides and smartphone Google Map for checking the freeway traffic. Plus Thomas Guides is still a great handy book!

[hm insulators]

I have an old 1969 Thomas Bros. mapbook of Los Angeles County. A couple of years ago, I found a 1977 Phoenix mapbook at a garage sale! It's amazing the difference between then and now! The community where my mother lives (Sun City West) didn't exist at all back then; indeed, that part of the Phoenix area was barely covered at all.

[rschen7754]

Hate to be a downer, but the only ones I see for sale anymore are for Southern California.

I still use my 2009 one (before they changed the style) quite a lot.

[Concrete Bob]

Does the 1977 Phoenix Thomas Brothers atlas contain any proposed freeways other than the Papago, Superstition and perhaps the early version of the Hohokam Expressway? 

I have a Thomas Brothers 1988 Maricopa County atlas with all the proposed post-1985, Proposition 300 freeways, after everything became official, including the Squaw Peak Parkway with some at-grade crossings.  But it would be interesting to know if the pre-1986 Thomas Guides included all the Proposition 300 freeways.  When I first bought the atlas back in 1989 at the Los Angeles County Fair, I did not know about Maricopa County's passage of Proposition 300 a mere four years earlier, and figured the proposed freeways were just a bunch of 1950s/1960s "visioning" and that those dotted lines would become a thing of the past, similar to what happened in California.  Little did I know at the time most of those dotted lines would become reality !!!

I always like the 1960s Thomas Guides covering California areas, because they included all the proposed, adopted freeways.  And some versions included future ramp configurations for systems interchanges. I have a 1965 Los Angeles Thomas Guide that has the interchange configurations for the never-built US 101/SR 2 interchange in Hollywood.   

[SimMoonXP]

Inside the 1977 Phoenix and Vicinity mapbook:
I-10 alignment:
Between Exit 124  (Loop 303 / Cotton Lane) to Exit 129 (Dysart Road) was under construction (solid thick black line) said "Est Comp Jan 1978.
Between Exit 129 (Dysart Road) to Exit 134 (91st Avenue) was "PROP FRWY" line (thick black dashed line).
Between Exit 134 (91st Avenue) to Exit 143 (I-17) was not proposed freeway yet.

US-60 (AZ-360) alignment:
Between Exit 171 (I-10) to Exit 176 (Loop 101 formerly called Price Road) was present as opened freeway.
Between Exit 176 (Loop 101 formerly called Price Road) to Exit 177 (Dobson Road) was under construction as solid black line (Comp Early 1978).
Between Exit 177 (Dobson Road) to Maricopa/Pinal County Boundary was "PROP FRWY" line (thick black dashed line).

[Northcoast707]

Two items here:  1)  I have a copy of Thomas Bros. "San Francisco Info-Guide" with an orange cover that was copyrighted in 1953 by George Coupland Thomas.  The fold out map inside shows the Bayshore Freeway's terminus at it's on/off ramps at 7th Street.  There is another edition of this publication with the same copyright date of 1953 but with blue covers, and the map inside shows a more extensive freeway alignment, connecting with the Bay Bridge ramp, which didn't occur until mid-1955.   2)  Thomas Bros' 1976 Street Guide to San Francisco shows the old Southern Pacific railroad station at Townsend and 3rd St., while their 1976 San Francisco Popular Street Atlas shows it in it's correct location at Townsend and 4th Streets. (It opened at this location on June 21, 1975).  Very peculiar.