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1890 Whitney / Ashley City Plan or Map of Spokane, Washington
SpokaneFalls-whitney-1890William Henry Whitney (January 3, 1843 - May 4, 1909) was an American civil engineer active in Boston in the second half of the 19th century. Whitney was born in Needham, Massachusetts. He studied at Cambridge High School then at the Lawrence Scientific School of Harvard University. In July of 1862, he enlisted in the Union Army to fight in the American Civil War (1861 - 1865). He served honorably throughout the war, seeing action and suffering wounds twice. He left the service with the rank of Brevet-Major. He served as Alderman of Cambridge. and was involved with the Back Bay development project - producing multiple maps and plans. He began his studies as a civil engineer before the war in the office of Stephen P. Fuller. From 1869 - 1871 he worked in the Boston City Engineer's Office and was involved with the Back Bay development project - producing multiple maps and plans. In 1872, he entered into partnership with J. Franklin Fuller, son of S. P. Fuller. After a short time, Fuller retired and Whitney took full control of the firm, in 1888 renaming it William H. Whitney. As a private contractor he continued to work on the Back Bay. Also around this time, he completed multiple plans for the official records of the Civil War. Between 1889 and 1890, he took a contract with the Union Pacific to produce a series of maps of western cities, including Portland, Salt Lake City, Seattle, Astoria, Port Townsend, Spokane, and more. While he did not consider them an important part of his corpus, they are today arguably his most significant works, being among the earliest obtainable plans of those cities. He was also influential in introducing blueprint technology to American architecture and engineering. More by this mapmaker...
John K. Ashley (1853 - February 8, 1926) was an American civil engineer. Born in Ohio, Ashley grew up in Denver, Colorado, where he worked as a messenger in the Survey General's Office from the age of twelve through fourteen. He attended college in Antioch, Ohio, and graduated in 1876. After graduation he returned to Denver and worked as a civil engineer, including as Arapahoe County Surveyor from 1881 - 1883. He was nominated for Denver City Surveyor but lost by a considerable margin. He owned racehorses from 1884 - 1885 and was sued by the Colorado National Bank for a debt soon after the death of one of his best horses. Ashley was elected to the Colorado State Legislature in 1885 and became Speaker of the House at the beginning of the 1885 session. He moved to Spokane, Washington, in 1888. Soon after arriving in Spokane, he was named City Engineer and then served as County Surveyor for Spokane County from 1892 - 1893. Ashley moved back to Denver in 1901 and moved to Sandpoint, Idaho, in 1902, to join his father and brothers. He worked as a civil engineer in Sandpoint until at least 1920. He married the oldest daughter of Arternas Carter in 1879, with whom he had two children. She died in 1885. Ashley married Lillian Hodder in 1888. Learn More...
Louis Humphrey Everts (April 14, 1836 - January 26, 1924) was an American map and atlas publisher active in the late 18th and early 19th century. Self-described as a "very busy and successful man", Everts was born in East Otto, New York. His family relocated to Geneva Illinois in 1851 where he worked as a clerk. In 1860 he moved to Chicago where he worked in Potter Palmer's dry-goods establishment. Following the outbreak of the America Civil War Everts joined the Union Army accepting a commission as Second Lieutenant in Company D. In 1861 he was promoted to First Lieutenant. During the course of the Civil War Everts saw action at Shiloh and Corinth before becoming an aide-de-camp to General Pleasant Adams Hackleman. He was later promoted again to the rank of Captain serving in the Western Theater and participating in Sherman's March. He ended his military service in 1865 with the rank of Brevet Major. During the war Everts befriend trade cartographer Thomas Hinckley Thompson, also a captain. Planning military strategy revealed the notable dearth of high quality county plans. Seeing a business opportunity the two teamed up as 'Everts and Thompson' (1865 - 1872) and began publishing county maps in Chicago. After the Great Chicago Fire, Everts acquired Thompson's stock and, in his own words "made the business large and profitable until it was necessary for me to visit Philadelphia and establish an office". Everts expanded his production rapidly moving away from standalone maps and refocusing on town histories and county atlases. He worked with numerous partners and seems to have been profitable, investing widely and diversely from land speculation to insurance firms. Apparently he was not the most successful investor and was forced to declare bankruptcy in 1900. Within two years he was back at head of a new firm, the Century Map Company. Active from 1902 to 1912 the Century Map Company published twelve atlases. Everts retired in 1913 and after briefly residing in a home for retired veterans moved to 215 Green Street, Philadelphia, where he lived until his death at 87 years. Learn More...
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This copy is copyright protected.
Copyright © 2024 Geographicus Rare Antique Maps