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Pictorial Map of Fresno County and Mid-California's Garden of the Sun [and] Automobile Road Map of Fresno County.

Fresno, California: Fresno County Chamber of Commerce, 1919. Folding color-printed map, 15” x 21”.

A striking, full-color bird's-eye view of Fresno County, replete with many insets depicting the area's agriculture, industry, natural beauty, etc., plus a handsome road-map of Fresno City.

This map stretches from the district of San Joaquin in the north to Tulare in the south and covers the areas of Stanislaus, Merced, Madera, Fresno, Kings, and Kern in between. Also included are San Francisco and vicinity in the west, and Yosemite National Park and the Sierra Nevada Mountains in the east. The map features a title cartouche and is bordered by more than 30 photo illustrations and color vignettes of natural wonders, residential areas, staple crops, livestock, etc. in the various areas depicted. Playful captions are offered beneath the insets; for instance, "Who's afraid" appears beneath a pair of bear cubs, and "Snow—if you want it" underneath a man standing in the snow.

A map of Fresno—half the size of the first map—appears on the verso, highlighting Sequoia Natural Park; Huntington Lake; Yosemite Valley; General Grant National Park; and depicting the principal automobile roads. The map, provided by the California State Automobile Association, stretches from Coalinga in the south-west to Yosemite Valley in the east, and notes "big trees" in several locales, as well as lodges, camps, lakes, mills, mines, etc.

Also found on the verso is a "bulletin," featuring text by the Fresno County Chamber of Commerce, appealing to those seeking residency or investment in this region, dubbed the "Garden of the Sun." Inviting the reader "to live in nature's garden masterpiece," the text covers Fresno and its surrounding areas in mid-California, noting the various attractions of living in the city: its cosmopolitan life; economic advantages; proximity to raw materials and abundant water; good transportation systems, etc.

OCLC records 6 copies: California Historical Society, California State Library, California State University, Fresno, University of California, Berkeley, University of California, Davis, and Library of Congress.

A vivid pictorial map and brochure.

CONDITION: Good, bit of separation along some folds with a few small losses.

REFERENCES: Hornsby, Stephen J. Picturing America: the Golden Age of Pictorial Maps, pp. 8-9.

Item #3799

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