1915 Thurston Rare Map of Pasadena, South Pasadena, Altadena, and San Marino, CA For Sale

21 x 28 in.
Thurston's Map of Pasadena So. Pasadena Altadena and San MarinoThis is the 1915 first edition of Albert G. Thurston's map of Pasadena and surrounding communities. It covers from Linda Vista Ave. and the Arroyo Seco in the west to Santa Anita Ave. in the east, and from Altadena in the north (including the Mt. Lowe Pacific Electric Line) to Alhambra Rd. (the border between South Pasadena and Alhambra) in the south. Streets, streetcar lines, rail lines and city boundaries are traced, with street names listed in an index corresponding to a gird surrounding the map. At this point in time, the area was growing rapidly but still in its formative stages, transitioning from a retreat for convalescents perched in the hills above Los Angeles into a city in its own right. The verso contains an automobile road map of Southern California, heralding the emerging car culture that has defined the region ever since.
This map was published in several editions between 1915 and 1930, all fairly rare, but we do not see any other examples of this 1915 (presumably first) edition in institutional collections.
Albert G. Thurston (c. 1880 - 1932) was a map and directory publisher active in Southern California. He most often produced maps of Pasadena, but also of the entire Southern California region and various locales therein. While operating his own business, Thurston was also closely connected to the Western Map and Publishing Co. and the Pasadena Blue Print Co. Thurston died in 1932, after which his daughter, Dorothy Thurston Sackett, briefly carried on his business.