{"product_id":"old-road-and-railroad-map-of-south-carolina-1920-charleston-columbia-greenville-auto-trails-electric-lines","title":"Old Map of South Carolina, 1920: Road \u0026 Railroad, Charleston, Columbia, Greenville, Auto Trails, Electric Lines","description":"\u003cp\u003eTitled \"South Carolina,\" this 1920 state map from the George F. Cram Company captures the Palmetto State at the dawn of the motor age, when new routes stitched together long-established towns and plantations into a modern network. Designed as both navigational tool and geographic portrait, it uses a disciplined palette to extraordinary effect: electric lines glow in red, auto trails course across the state in distinct tints, and state roads and highways alternate between red and blue for instant legibility. Administrative boundaries are crisply color-coded, while principal cities, county seats, and the capital stand out in green. An illustrative key clarifies every symbol, and a mile-referenced scale anchors distance at a glance. Hachured relief adds sculptural depth, casting the Piedmont and coastal flats into satisfying visual balance.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eChicago-based George F. Cram Company built its reputation on practical, infrastructure-forward cartography, and this sheet distills that ethos with understated elegance. In the early twentieth century, as census tabulations and public works accelerated, Cram’s editors prioritized what travelers, shippers, and salesmen most needed: clear hierarchies of roads, rail and traction lines, and unambiguous county delineations that matched governmental realities. Their South Carolina integrates these priorities seamlessly, marrying meticulous labeling with color logic that reduces complexity without sacrificing detail. The house style favors clean typography, restrained ornament, and an insistence on current improvements—qualities that made Cram a staple in classrooms, glove compartments, and boardrooms alike. Here, those virtues serve a state in transition, translating its rapid infrastructural growth into a map that is both immediately useful and enduringly informative.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eGeography is rendered with rare sensitivity. Hachures trace the Blue Ridge’s first upthrusts in the northwest before softening across the rolling Piedmont, then fading to the sandy breaks of the Fall Line and the broad Coastal Plain. A web of rivers—Savannah and Saluda, Broad joining the Congaree, the Santee’s braided courses, the Edisto’s blackwater, the Pee Dee and Waccamaw near the Grand Strand—organizes settlement and transport. Every county is sharply outlined, their seats and principal cities highlighted in green to guide administration and trade. Paved and improved roads are carefully distinguished, revealing the era’s priority corridors snaking from courthouse towns to mills and markets. The reference scale in miles invites practical planning, while the clean legend translates this complexity into a language any 1920 motorist or merchant could instantly read.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eUrban and industrial South Carolina steps forward in confident color. Columbia anchors the interior as state capital and railroad nexus; Charleston commands the coast, its harbor tying rice fields and pine forests to the wider Atlantic world. Upstate, Greenville, Spartanburg, and Anderson—the storied “Electric City”—form a textile-powered arc. Florence presides over the Pee Dee’s rail crossroads, while Rock Hill’s mills signal the Catawba’s energy. Summerville and the Lowcountry communities north of Charleston nod to early resort and naval development, and Myrtle Beach appears on the cusp of its seaside future. The red-threaded electric lines spotlight interurban and traction corridors across the Piedmont, while distinct auto-trail colors chart coastal arteries to Savannah and North Carolina and inland routes toward Charlotte and beyond—the precursors of the numbered U.S. highways that would soon rationalize America’s roads.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eAs a historical document, this map fixes South Carolina in the bright light of 1920, when census counts, county governance, and public investment converged to redraw how people moved and where commerce flowed. Railroads still carried the heaviest loads, but paved and improved roadways were advancing fast, and electrified lines were at their zenith—exactly the triad Cram emphasizes. For researchers, it is a precise guide to county boundaries, population hubs, and the connective tissue between courthouse, mill village, and port; for collectors, it offers the satisfying harmony of color, line, and purposeful design that defined great American cartography between wars. Above all, it captures a living landscape—from Blue Ridge foothills to sea islands—caught at a pivotal moment, when modern mobility began to reimagine an old and storied state.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eCities and towns on this map\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cul\u003e\n\u003cli\u003eColumbia\u003c\/li\u003e\n\u003cli\u003eCharleston\u003c\/li\u003e\n\u003cli\u003eNorth Charleston\u003c\/li\u003e\n\u003cli\u003eGreenville\u003c\/li\u003e\n\u003cli\u003eSpartanburg\u003c\/li\u003e\n\u003cli\u003eSummerville\u003c\/li\u003e\n\u003cli\u003eHilton Head Island\u003c\/li\u003e\n\u003cli\u003eFlorence\u003c\/li\u003e\n\u003cli\u003eMyrtle Beach\u003c\/li\u003e\n\u003cli\u003eRock Hill\u003c\/li\u003e\n\u003cli\u003eAnderson\u003c\/li\u003e\n\u003c\/ul\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eNotable Features \u0026amp; Landmarks\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cul\u003e\n\u003cli\u003eElectric lines highlighted in red.\u003c\/li\u003e\n\u003cli\u003eAuto trails marked with distinct colors for ease of navigation.\u003c\/li\u003e\n\u003cli\u003eState roads and highways indicated in red and blue.\u003c\/li\u003e\n\u003cli\u003eAdministrative boundaries outlined using various color codes.\u003c\/li\u003e\n\u003cli\u003ePrincipal cities, counties, and capitals highlighted in green.\u003c\/li\u003e\n\u003cli\u003ePaved and improved roads identified for practical travel use.\u003c\/li\u003e\n\u003cli\u003eReference scale indicating the distance in miles.\u003c\/li\u003e\n\u003cli\u003eHachured relief for geographical depth.\u003c\/li\u003e\n\u003cli\u003eIllustrative key for map features.\u003c\/li\u003e\n\u003c\/ul\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eHistorical and design context\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cul\u003e\n\u003cli\u003eDate of Creation: 1920\u003c\/li\u003e\n\u003cli\u003eCreated By: George F. Cram Company\u003c\/li\u003e\n\u003cli\u003eContext About the Mapmaker: Chicago-based and known for detailed, practical maps and atlases focused on infrastructure and transportation.\u003c\/li\u003e\n\u003cli\u003eThemes and Topics: Highlights electric lines, auto trails, and administrative boundaries as both navigational aids and reflections of the era’s infrastructure.\u003c\/li\u003e\n\u003cli\u003eThemes and Topics: Distinct colors differentiate auto trails, state roads, and highways; principal cities and counties are outlined for user-friendly reference.\u003c\/li\u003e\n\u003cli\u003eDesign and Style: Color-coded scheme for features with hachures for terrain relief to enhance visual depth.\u003c\/li\u003e\n\u003cli\u003eHistorical Significance: Reflects South Carolina’s infrastructure and demographic data from the 1920 census, offering insights for researchers and collectors.\u003c\/li\u003e\n\u003c\/ul\u003e\u003cp\u003ePlease double check the images to make sure that a specific town or place is shown on this map. You can also get in touch and ask us to check the map for you.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eThis map looks great at every size, but I always recommend going for a larger size if you have space. That way you can easily make out all of the details. \u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eThis map looks amazing at sizes all the way up to 50in (125cm). If you are looking for a larger map, please \u003ca href=\"\/pages\/contact-us\"\u003eget in touch\u003c\/a\u003e.\u003c\/p\u003e  \u003cp\u003eThe model in the listing images is holding the 18x24in (45x60cm) version of this map.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eThe fifth listing image shows an example of my map personalisation service.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eIf you’re looking for something slightly different, check out my collection of the \u003ca href=\"\/collections\/all-old-vintage-antique-maps\"\u003ebest old maps\u003c\/a\u003e to see if something else catches your eye.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003ePlease \u003ca href=\"\/pages\/contact-us\"\u003econtact me\u003c\/a\u003e to check if a certain location, landmark or feature is shown on this map.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eThis would make a wonderful birthday, Christmas, Father's Day, work leaving, anniversary or housewarming gift for someone from the areas covered by this map.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eThis map is available as a giclée print on acid free archival matte paper, or you can buy it framed. The frame is a nice, simple black frame that suits most aesthetics. Please get in touch if you'd like a different frame colour or material. My frames are glazed with super-clear museum-grade acrylic (perspex\/acrylite), which is significantly less reflective than glass, safer, and will always arrive in perfect condition.\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"The Unique Maps Co.","offers":[{"title":"12x16in (30x40cm) \/ Map","offer_id":57828604707200,"sku":"UM00271559A","price":75.0,"currency_code":"AUD","in_stock":true},{"title":"12x16in (30x40cm) \/ Framed map","offer_id":57828604739968,"sku":"UM00271560A","price":202.0,"currency_code":"AUD","in_stock":true},{"title":"12x16in (30x40cm) \/ Framed canvas map","offer_id":57828604772736,"sku":"UM00271561A","price":0.0,"currency_code":"AUD","in_stock":true},{"title":"A3 (297x420mm) \/ Map","offer_id":57828604805504,"sku":"UM00271562A","price":75.0,"currency_code":"AUD","in_stock":true},{"title":"A3 (297x420mm) \/ Framed map","offer_id":57828604838272,"sku":"UM00271563A","price":202.0,"currency_code":"AUD","in_stock":true},{"title":"A3 (297x420mm) \/ Framed canvas 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