DESCRIPTION: Rare and historically important 1914 promotional map and broadside documenting the extraordinary contest between George Hammond's Fort George Townsite and the Grand Trunk Pacific Railway over the location and development of what would become Prince George, British Columbia. Issued by Hammond's Natural Resources Security Company at the culmination of the railway-driven land boom, the map shows Fort George, South Fort George and the adjoining Grand Trunk Pacific property, while the remarkable illustrated verso proclaims "TRAINS ARE NOW RUNNING TO FORT GEORGE" and reproduces government decisions, photographs and promotional material celebrating Hammond's apparent victory in his struggle with the railway.
The document captures a pivotal and ultimately ironic moment in the development of northern British Columbia. Hammond had aggressively promoted Fort George as the inevitable commercial metropolis of the region and fought the Grand Trunk Pacific over the location and naming of its station. The railway, however, developed its own adjoining townsite, which became Prince George, incorporated in 1915, and ultimately eclipsed Hammond's Fort George development.
The verso is particularly significant, reproducing Railway Commission proceedings concerning the Fort George station controversy together with photographs of the first Grand Trunk Pacific train arriving in January 1914, the temporary Fraser River bridge, the Fort George Hotel, and panoramic views of the rapidly developing settlement. The result is not simply a town plan, but an unusually vivid contemporary record of the speculation, railway politics and competing urban schemes that accompanied the creation of Prince George.
Verso with text and half-tone photographs. Lithograph dated within to June 1913 but 1914.
Published by Natural Resources Security Company Limited, George J. Hammond President, Vancouver, B.C.
PUBLICATION DATE: 1914
GEOGRAPHIC AREA: Canada
BODY OF WATER: Nechako River, Fraser River
CONDITION: Good.
Folding map as issued. Small hole at one fold. Clean on coated paper.
COLORING: None
ENGRAVER:
SIZE: 25
" x
22 "
ITEM PHYSICAL LOCATION:
PRICE: $850
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