Plan of the Alton & Terre Haute Rail Road from Alton to the Indiana State Line [caption title] de [Illinois]. [Railroads] - 1850

St. Louis, 1850. Very good.. Large folding map on two joined sheets, in total measuring approximately 25 x 46 inches. A couple of small separations at folds, light wear at edges. Scattered faint foxing. A rare, large format map that depicts the planned route for the Alton & Terre Haute Railroad through Illinois. Based on this plan and survey, conducted in December 1850, the Illinois legislature chartered the Terre Haute & Alton Railroad early the next year, and the entire line was completed in 1856. Under significant final stress, it was sold and reorganized into the St. Louis, Terre Haute, & Alton Railroad in 1862. The upper portion of the map shows the route of the proposed line between the two towns, which passed through Hillsborough, Shelbyville, and Charleston in central Illinois. A large section of the right-hand hand side provides a detailed topographical profile of the route, as compared to the level of the Mississippi River at the same latitude. The engineer responsible for the plan and map, William P. Crocker, was also the engineer for the Illinois Central Railroad, and worked on the Fitchburg and Boston, Concord, and Montreal Railroads in the East. The lithographer, Julius Hutawa, was the first to establish such a business in St. Louis, doing so in 1833, and he continued to be the only operation in town until the arrival of August and Leopold Gast in 1852. OCLC locates one copy, at the British Library; none in auction records.