Collections

The Map Collection

The Map Collection includes street maps, topographic maps, and historical maps.

The Sacramento Room's earliest map, known as "Riley's Map," was drawn in 1849 and shows the vast open space of Sacramento Valley. An early indicator of modern disasters, there are several notations about "Floods in Winter." On this map, Sacramento is a tiny square at the confluence of the Sacramento and American Rivers. No other settlements are shown.

More modern maps show the layout of Sacramento both during and after the Gold Rush. The locations of long gone landmarks are remembered in print. Today's Boulevard Park was once a popular horse racing track. Other maps show the State Fairgrounds on Stockton Boulevard, where the fair was located for a number of years until Cal Expo was built in the 1960s. There are maps that show Sacramento before the freeways were built and others that show the locations of railroads and streetcar lines.