Dec 04, 2014 - Sale 2369

Sale 2369 - Lot 111

Price Realized: $ 20,000
?Final Price Realized includes Buyer’s Premium added to Hammer Price
Estimate: $ 10,000 - $ 15,000
(RAILROAD.) Northern Pacific Railway. Mammoth archive of manuscript maps and blueprints documenting the Northern Pacific Railway in Washington State. Includes many hundred rolled plans, in a range of formats, some in ink on architectural vellum, some with color, some photomechanical transfers on paper, many very large (in excess of 10 feet long), most less than 3 feet tall; also includes a smaller quantity of reports on surveying and civil engineering activities (20th century); condition varies, generally fair with edge wear from storage. Washington State, 1890s to 1950s
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Additional Details

These maps appear to have been held by the Tacoma Division (also called the Pacific Division on the plans and papers) at some point. The Tacoma Division handled all of the road's business west of the Idaho Division (headquartered in Spokane), including Seattle, Oregon, British Columbia, and related lines, and at one point, it encompassed over 1,000 route miles. Portions of this archive are dedicated to Seattle, Tacoma, and other metropolitan areas.

The Northern Pacific established itself in Washington in the 1880s and further developed the line through a rather tumultuous period in the 1890s. Its history in the 20th century was characterized by rather more steady improvement, and these maps capture that. After 1900, most of the road's remaining areas for expansion lay west of Montana, in Idaho and Washington.

Illustrated above is an 1891 manuscript plan titled: 'Map of the Tacoma Terminals Showing Yards, Shops, Depots, and Waterfront Tracks.' 37.5x116 inches. Reaching Puget Sound and establishing hubs in Seattle and Tacoma were among the top goals of the Northern Pacific in the 1880s and '90s.