A bunch of 1950s Gousha maps online

[NE2]

http://www.davidrumsey.com/luna/servlet/view/search?q=Publisher=%22Shell%20Oil%20Company%22

This atlas was originally bound for use by the staff of the San Francisco Examiner newspaper. It has been professionally unbound and boxed, preserving the original appearance and covers, which snap shut over the box portion. Each map was originally published as a separate roadmap distributed at Shell gas (filling) stations. Every map bears the Shell logo and a complete legend and sometimes the statement, "Current at date of publication, but subject to change." Copyright and lithography by H.M. Gousha Company, Chicago-San Jose. Map borders and covers (to the typical 23x10 cm folded edition) make liberal use of the distinctive Shell gold and red colors. The colorful maps in this atlas have often never been folded except as necessary for putting them into this atlas. All maps printed on both sides. Relief depicted by shading or hypsometric tints or sketches. Each map sheet may include such useful information as mileage charts (distances between cities), speed limits, a national highway map, highway safety pointers, state traffic rules, reminders for travelers, a list of available Shell maps, legend, and National Park fees and season. Regional and national maps include mileages and driving times between destinations. State maps include a gazetteer with population and is keyed to map location. Maps generally drawn in a polyconic projection.

[PHLBOS]

Wow.  Good find.  Looking at the 1956 Metropolitan Boston page is a hoot.  Most of the major highways were either still proposed or under construction.  Note: the southern end of MA 128 below Highland Ave. (current Exit 19 off I-95) is still a network of streets.

The long-since decommissioned MA 120 from US 1 north of MA 128 running in northwesterly in West Peabody is an interesting find.  That's one I was not aware of.

[Road Hog]

Awesome maps that, ignoring the Interstates, could be used today for the most part.

[NE2]

The long-since decommissioned MA 120 from US 1 north of MA 128 running in northwesterly in West Peabody is an interesting find.  That's one I was not aware of.

Also note Route 17 on old US 1 from Danvers to the NH line. And Route 11 still existed where 121 is now (not sure why this was changed).

[deathtopumpkins]

The long-since decommissioned MA 120 from US 1 north of MA 128 running in northwesterly in West Peabody is an interesting find.  That's one I was not aware of.

Also note Route 17 on old US 1 from Danvers to the NH line. And Route 11 still existed where 121 is now (not sure why this was changed).

Which map does that appear on? I can't seem to find it on the Metro Boston map, but am really curious now.

[PHLBOS]

The long-since decommissioned MA 120 from US 1 north of MA 128 running in northwesterly in West Peabody is an interesting find.  That's one I was not aware of.

Also note Route 17 on old US 1 from Danvers to the NH line. And Route 11 still existed where 121 is now (not sure why this was changed).

Which map does that appear on? I can't seem to find it on the Metro Boston map, but am really curious now.

NE2, are we talking about the same map?  The 1956 Metro Boston map (page 3 on the web-link) I'm (& likely Deathtopumpkins) referring to only goes as far north as Danvers (just north of Center St. along US 1) and makes no reference to a Route 17.

[NE2]

The long-since decommissioned MA 120 from US 1 north of MA 128 running in northwesterly in West Peabody is an interesting find.  That's one I was not aware of.

Also note Route 17 on old US 1 from Danvers to the NH line. And Route 11 still existed where 121 is now (not sure why this was changed).

Which map does that appear on? I can't seem to find it on the Metro Boston map, but am really curious now.

There's a Mass-Conn-RI map near the bottom of the first page (or you can add Massachusetts to the search box in the upper right):
http://www.davidrumsey.com/luna/servlet/detail/RUMSEY~8~1~212092~5500218:Shell-Map-of-Massachusetts,-Connect?sort=Pub_List_No_InitialSort%2CPub_Date%2CPub_List_No%2CSeries_No

[deathtopumpkins]

Ah-ha! Very interesting. I see also that MA 133 east of Ipswich was formerly MA 121, and that the NH 1A bridge from Seabrook to Hampton Beach was formerly tolled.

Also, just Googled MA 17 and apparently Wiki knew about it: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Massachusetts_Route_17

[PHLBOS]

Thanks for the more detailed-link.

Didn't the original US 1 becoming MA 17 and then changing back to US 1 again violate AASHTO's rule for US highway designations not reverting back to their pre-freeway corridors?  I'm glad that this happened (in MA), but it seems in other areas; US freeways that receive an Interstate designation wind up staying multiplexed rather than the US number being redesignated to its pre-freeway corridor (example: US 220/I-99 in PA).

[agentsteel53]

Didn't the original US 1 becoming MA 17 and then changing back to US 1 again violate AASHTO's rule for US highway designations not reverting back to their pre-freeway corridors?  I'm glad that this happened (in MA), but it seems in other areas; US freeways that receive an Interstate designation wind up staying multiplexed rather than the US number being redesignated to its pre-freeway corridor (example: US 220/I-99 in PA).

that's an AASHO rule?  why?  seems a pretty silly rule to me.  I'd be all in favor of, say, US-395 being put on surface streets in Reno as an alternate to I-580.

[NE2]

Didn't the original US 1 becoming MA 17 and then changing back to US 1 again violate AASHTO's rule for US highway designations not reverting back to their pre-freeway corridors?

I don't know if the rule existed in those days. Connecticut did something similar with US 1 and I-95: http://www.kurumi.com/roads/ct/ct51.html

NC recently gave AASHTO the finger and moved US 117 back off I-795. Good for them.

that's an AASHO rule?  why?  seems a pretty silly rule to me.  I'd be all in favor of, say, US-395 being put on surface streets in Reno as an alternate to I-580.

Any proposal that would exploit the prestige of the U.S. numbered highway system to direct traffic over routes that are not the shortest and best available between major control points on the system, especially when it appears to be for the purpose of benefiting businesses located along such a proposed routes, shall constitute reason for denying any application to make such an addition to the system.

[sandiaman]

I  really  wish  that  Gousha  maps  were  still  in  business.  there  is  no  comparison to  the  crap  that  Rand  McNally  puts  out  year  after  year.  I  like  the  detail  they  put  into  even a  common  road  map,like  with  the  elevations  of  towns,  (important  in  the  western  states).

[kkt]

http://www.davidrumsey.com/luna/servlet/view/search?q=Publisher=%22Shell%20Oil%20Company%22&sort=Pub_List_No_InitialSort,Pub_Date,Pub_List_No,Series_No

This atlas was originally bound for use by the staff of the San Francisco Examiner newspaper. It has been professionally unbound and boxed, preserving the original appearance and covers, which snap shut over the box portion. Each map was originally published as a separate roadmap distributed at Shell gas (filling) stations. Every map bears the Shell logo and a complete legend and sometimes the statement, "Current at date of publication, but subject to change." Copyright and lithography by H.M. Gousha Company, Chicago-San Jose. Map borders and covers (to the typical 23x10 cm folded edition) make liberal use of the distinctive Shell gold and red colors. The colorful maps in this atlas have often never been folded except as necessary for putting them into this atlas. All maps printed on both sides. Relief depicted by shading or hypsometric tints or sketches. Each map sheet may include such useful information as mileage charts (distances between cities), speed limits, a national highway map, highway safety pointers, state traffic rules, reminders for travelers, a list of available Shell maps, legend, and National Park fees and season. Regional and national maps include mileages and driving times between destinations. State maps include a gazetteer with population and is keyed to map location. Maps generally drawn in a polyconic projection.

This is a beautiful set of maps, and the owner is so generous making them available on the web!  Thanks for pointing them out.

[Road Hog]

The old Arkansas state maps (up to some point in the 1990s) pretty much copied all the Gousha fonts. Tons better than the present Industrial Drafting Board Light font they currently use.

[MrDisco99]

The one for Florida includes Cuba along with.  Love it!

[NE2]

More complete atlases from the David Rumsey Map Collection:
1924 Rand McNally US (auto trails maps seem to be from 1922): http://www.davidrumsey.com/luna/servlet/view/search?q=Publisher%3D%22Rand+McNally%22+1924
1927 Rand McNally US: http://www.davidrumsey.com/luna/servlet/view/search?q=Publisher%3D%22Rand+McNally%22+1927
1938 Thomas Brothers California (with a few pages for nearby states): http://www.davidrumsey.com/luna/servlet/view/search?q=Publisher=%22Thomas%20Bros.%22
1940 Rand McNally US: http://www.davidrumsey.com/luna/servlet/view/search?q=Publisher=%22State%20Farm%20Insurance%22

[theline]

Sorry for the bump, but these voluminous maps are too much for one sitting, or even two. Among the original 1950s group, I found two curiosities while reading the 1956 Kansas City insert on the verso of the Kansas map:

• That odd affectation for street type, Trafficway, was around even back then. 
• I see one highway identified with a US shield that's marked "OPT 40." Would that be "Option 40" or what? That's a new one to me.

[NE2]

That odd affectation for street type, Trafficway, was around even back then. 

Yep. It was around in the 1910s: http://www.google.com/search?tbm=bks&q=%22twelfth+street+traffic+way%22

I see one highway identified with a US shield that's marked "OPT 40." Would that be "Option 40" or what? That's a new one to me.

Optional: http://www.us-highways.com/optus.htm

[theline]

That odd affectation for street type, Trafficway, was around even back then. 

Yep. It was around in the 1910s: http://www.google.com/search?tbm=bks&q=%22twelfth+street+traffic+way%22

The passage, from 1910, implies that the Trafficway was already a "problem" at that time, so it must have existed even before then. It was used by the cable railway system.

This structure is a steep [wooden] viaduct running at a fifteen per cent incline from 12th and Mulberry Streets in the West Bottoms to the top of the bluff in Kansas City, Missouri, nearly half a mile

I see one highway identified with a US shield that's marked "OPT 40." Would that be "Option 40" or what? That's a new one to me.

Optional: http://www.us-highways.com/optus.htm

I suppose they quit using OPT, because it was redundant. ALT is a perfectly good synonym. Coincidentally, the last extant OPT route was in Kansas City, probably the one I asked about.

Thanks NE2 for the citations.

[texaskdog]

note on the Texas map the 90 goes all the way up to 62