1957 Metsker Map of Olympic Peninsula, Washington

Charles Frederick Metsker (December 5, 1881 - October 6, 1966) was an American cartographer and publisher. Born in Douglas County, Kansas, Metsker's family moved to Winlock, Washington, in 1900. Metsker began publishing maps in 1901 in Tacoma, Washington. By the 1920s he was advertising as 'Metsker the Map Man' in Washington and Oregon newspapers. He opened a brick and mortar store in 1950 in Seattle and sold Township maps and atlases and County maps. He married Minnie B. Clevenger (1888 - 19xx) on May 11, 1905, with whom he had two children. They divorced sometime between 1910 and 1920. He married Elizabeth F. Metsker (1899 - 1982) on November 6, 1922, with whom he had a daughter. He retired in 1948 when he turned the business over to his son. He died in McMinnville, Oregon, at the age of 84. Metsker Maps joined forces with the Kroll Map Company, another Seattle-based mapmaker, in 1980. Metsker Maps continues to operate in Seattle to this day, where they can be visited at the Pike Place Market in the Sanitary Market Building. More by this mapmaker...