Map Showing Condition of State Roads

Date1920

Mediumink on paper

Dimensions25 1/2 × 22 in. (64.8 × 55.9 cm)

ClassificationsDocumentary Artifact

Credit LineAlbuquerque Museum, gift of Nancy FitzGerald

Object numberPC2001.37.4

DescriptionThis map contains all of the state of New Mexico with roads and key geographical areas of importance noted. Each county is squared off, rivers run through the map, and the mountain ranges are drawn in. The edges of the map show the New Mexico borders with Colorado, Arizona, Mexico, and Texas but label the next nearest town off the map as roads run beyond New Mexico state boundaries. There is a numbered key at the top and bottom with a lettered key on the left and right sides. Advertisements for Conoco Gasoline and Motor Oils line the top of the map with accompanying images and text in red and dark blue. By the 1920s, automobile travel increased to the point where road maps were useful in getting around New Mexico. The highways had descriptive names like the Rocky Mountain or the El Paso Highway. Road construction crews built the roads through mountains, along rivers, and beside railroad tracks.

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