1929 Official Atlantic Coastal Highway Association Map from Calais, Maine, to Key West, Florida
DESCRIPTION
A remarkable survivor from the golden age of American automobile tourism, when improved roads made automobile touring increasingly practical and popular. This large and rare promotional map invited motorists to travel the Atlantic seaboard from Maine to Florida, following a route that would become closely associated with U.S. Route 1.
The Road to U.S. Route 1
Published in 1929 by the Wilmington Chamber of Commerce in cooperation with the Atlantic Coastal Highway Association, the sheet promotes the Atlantic Coastal Highway connecting Calais, Maine, with Key West, Florida. Drawn by C. M. Sawyer, its central map traces the route through Boston, New York, Philadelphia, Baltimore, Washington, Richmond, Norfolk, Wilmington, Charleston, Savannah, Jacksonville, and Miami. The highway belonged to the earlier era of named auto trails, but following the introduction of the federal numbered highway system in 1926, much of this corridor became associated with U.S. Route 1, one of America's best-known long-distance highways.
More than a road map, the sheet is a colorful advertisement for travel along the Atlantic coast. Photographs and text highlight Plymouth Rock, Fort McHenry, Cape Henry Lighthouse, Norfolk's waterfront, Virginia Beach, historic churches, bridges, beaches, and other attractions awaiting motorists along the route. A broad panorama of Wilmington Beach adorns the upper border, while swimmers and beach scenes emphasize the recreational appeal of the southern coast. At the bottom, n illustration and advertisement for Carter's Million-Dollar Pier at Miami Beach provides a fitting destination for travelers continuing into Florida.
Wilmington at the Center
The reverse reveals the brochure's particular purpose: promoting Wilmington and the Cape Fear region to motorists traveling the coastal highway. A detailed street map shows the highway passing through Wilmington and connections toward Wrightsville Beach, surrounded by photographs of Wrightsville Beach, Carolina Beach, the Cape Fear River, and Wilmington's waterfront. Advertisements for hotels, restaurants, garages, automobile dealers, and other local businesses provide an unusually vivid picture of the city's developing automobile-tourism economy.
Scarcity of the Map
This 1929 issue appears to be exceptionally scarce, with this being only the third example we have been able to locate. One other is preserved in the Special Collections at the University of North Carolina Wilmington, while another appeared at Old World Auctions in 2023. No additional institutional or market examples of this particular issue have been located, an unusually low survival rate for a promotional map originally intended to be folded, carried, and used by motorists.
CONDITION
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