[Colorado]:

$50,000 · Offered by William Reese Company · No longer available

PLAN OF THE CITIES OF DENVER, AURARIA AND HIGHLAND JEFFERSON TERR. 1859. The very rare first map of Denver, produced a year before the creation of the Territory of Colorado and at the height of the Pike's Peak Gold Rush. At the time, the area referred to itself as "Jefferson Territory," and it is so identified on this map. This copy is signed in manuscript by H.S. Fosdick, who prepared and published the map, his signature dated December 1, 1859. While published by Fosdick and Tappan, who were located in the city of Denver, the map was printed by Meisel Bros. in Boston, lithography being out of reach for the newly settled territory.The map, drawn on a scale of 800 feet to the inch, was prepared and published by civil engineer, H.M. Fosdick, and was printed by Meisel Brothers in Boston. It was co-published by Lewis N. Tappan, an abolitionist, entrepreneur, and Colorado pioneer. Based on Fosdick's own surveys, it shows the settlements of Denver, Auraria, and Highland (including the Highland "Addition"), with the Platte River snaking through the towns and Cherry Creek dividing Denver from Auraria. Hundreds of numbered blocks are located, streets are named, and the locations of bridges over the Platte River and Cherry Creek are shown. The map shows the clear distinctions of the grid layouts of Denver to the north, Auraria to the south of the Cherry Creek, and Highland across the Platte River to the east.When gold was discovered along the South Platte River in July 1858, it set off

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