1885 Yosemite Stage and Turnpike Company Map of Yosemite National Park, California

This is a c. 1885 Yosemite Stage and Turnpike Company map of Yosemite National Park, California.

A Closer Look

A bright green highlights Yosemite National Park. The original Yosemite Grant containing Yosemite Valley is encircled by a bold black line and not shaded green. The Sentinel Hotel, El Capitan, Inspiration Point, and Sentinel Dome are labeled within the original Grant. Peaks, rivers, valleys, and roads are illustrated throughout Yosemite. Wawona appears along the Yosemite Road on the park's southern border. The Mariposa Big Tree Grove is outlined just south of the park and the Yosemite Road is illustrated from Wawona south to Raymond (it also continues north from Wawona to Yosemite Valley). Rivers, towns, and roads in the surrounding region are illustrated as well, along with the Southern Pacific Railroad's lines. Fresno appears at bottom center. Printed photographs of Camp Yosemite, the Sentinel Hotel (with a stagecoach in front), Wawona, Yosemite Falls, and the Fallen Monarch in the Mariposa Grove of Big Trees occupy the right portion of the sheet.

Verso Content

A map of the Yosemite Valley occupies over a quarter of the verso and illustrates wagon roads, trails, and other prominent features within the valley. A second map in the upper right depicts the state of California with the route to Yosemite National Park noted. Additional text provides proposed itineraries and activities.

The Yosemite Stage and Turnpike Company

The Yosemite Stage and Turnpike Company was founded in 1876 by the Washburn brothers, who had recently moved to California from Vermont. They founded a hotel in the Yosemite Valley, now known as the Wawona Hotel complex. Bu 1879, the enterprise was so successful that the company built a toll road with stage service to the Yosemite Valley. The service initially ran from the South Pacific stop at Madera, but after a wet winter when their stagecoaches were mired in the mud, the Washburns convinced the Southern Pacific to build a spur line to Raymond. From Raymond, the stagecoaches took visitors to the Mariposa Big Trees Grove, as well as Inspiration Point (which the map states is the point from which all the famous paintings of Yosemite had been composed), and Glacier Point.

Publication History and Census

This map was drawn by Julius C. Henkenius and published by Britton and Rey c. 1885. We have located catalog entries for a half dozen or so examples of a map bearing the same title, but those examples are cataloged as being published by Sunset Press, not Britton and Rey, suggesting that these are later editions.