Map Lettersheet (2 results)

Lettersheet for this important but small railway. One side is blank and intended for a letter and the other side has a map of the routes of the Chicago Great Western Railway. The map is enclosed in a circular border and every station is placed. The route resembles a Y with the bottom being in Chicago, one arm ending in St. Paul and the other ending in Kansas City and the meeting point being in Oelwein, Iowa. The Railway called it the 'Maple Leaf Route' and claim (on the lettersheet and surrounding the map)-"Drawing Tribute from the Garden Spot of America. A study of the map will convince you that along this line are located a greater number of large cities and towns. with a greater aggregate population, than on any other Western road of equal mileage". This lettersheet bears a letter from agent Wm. Coldwell to Louis Sohn and concerns a tract of land. Expected fold-lines to fit in envelope, small section of browning but overall a very good copy.The recipient, Louis Sohns, served as a Vancouver [Washington] mayor, was elected to the territorial legislature and was a member of the constitutional convention when Washington was admitted as a state in 1889. He was an organizer of the community water system and headed the town's first bank. Sohns also was a major stockholder in the Vancouver, Kickitat and Yakima Railroad, and a director of the Michigan Mill, the town's largest industry.The Chicago Great Western Railway was a Class I railroad that linked Chicago, Minneapolis, Omaha, and Kansas City. It was founded by Alpheus Beede Stickney in 1885 as a regional line between St. Paul and the Iowa state line called the Minnesota and Northwestern Railroad. Through mergers and new construction, the railroad, named Chicago Great Western after 1892, quickly became a multi-state carrier. One of the last Class I railroads to be built, it competed against several other more well-established railroads in the same territory, and developed a corporate culture of innovation and efficiency to survive.

Lettersheet for this important but small railway. One side is blank and intended for a letter and the other side has a map of the routes of the Chicago Great Western Railway. The map is enclosed in a circular border and every station is placed. The route resembles a Y with the bottom being in Chicago, one arm ending in St. Paul and the other ending in Kansas City and the meeting point being in Oelwein, Iowa. The Railway called it the 'Maple Leaf Route' and claim (on the lettersheet and surrounding the map)-"Drawing Tribute from the Garden Spot of America. A study of the map will convince you that along this line are located a greater number of large cities and towns. with a greater aggregate population, than on any other Western road of equal mileage". This lettersheet bears a letter from agent Wm. Coldwell to Louis Sohn and concerns a tract of land. Expected fold-lines to fit in envelope, small section of browning but overall a very good copy.The recipient, Louis Sohns, served as a Vancouver [Washington] mayor, was elected to the territorial legislature and was a member of the constitutional convention when Washington was admitted as a state in 1889. He was an organizer of the community water system and headed the town's first bank. Sohns also was a major stockholder in the Vancouver, Kickitat and Yakima Railroad, and a director of the Michigan Mill, the town's largest industry.The Chicago Great Western Railway was a Class I railroad that linked Chicago, Minneapolis, Omaha, and Kansas City. It was founded by Alpheus Beede Stickney in 1885 as a regional line between St. Paul and the Iowa state line called the Minnesota and Northwestern Railroad. Through mergers and new construction, the railroad, named Chicago Great Western after 1892, quickly became a multi-state carrier. One of the last Class I railroads to be built, it competed against several other more well-established railroads in the same territory, and developed a corporate culture of innovation and efficiency to survive.