MAPPING MAPS, RELIEF MAPS AND MORE MAPS
The problem with the map is simple: it is huge and would cost a lot of money to move, restore and display it. The last estimate was in the range of $500,000. And that was 30 years ago. It is a classic white elephant, too valuable to scrap, but too expensive to keep. "I think no one else wants the map, so they are trying to give it to us," he said. "If we owned it we would try to do the same thing."
The relief map of California, said to be the world’s largest map when it was created in 1924, was as long as two football fields.
The city offered the map for sale for a bargain price - only $1 to anyone who would take it, restore it and display it properly.
It has not been seen in public for 50 years. For map fans, it is the saddest of sad stories: The map was damaged in the mid-1950s during a remodeling project at the Ferry Building and cut up into sections and put into storage in 1960.
The giant Paradise in Panorama relief map of California, made in 1924, was displayed at the Ferry Building.
San Francisco’s oldest and best-known white elephant – the huge three-dimensional relief map of California that once graced the Ferry Building – has turned up at an undisclosed location on the city’s waterfront.The map was one of the wonders of the West when it was unveiled in 1924. It was as long as two football fields and showed California in all its splendor, from Oregon to Mexico, with snow-capped mountains, national parks, redwood forests, a glorious coastline, orchards and miniature cities basking in the sun. It was made of plaster, wire, paint, and bits of rock and sand. In the summer of 1924, Scientific American magazine said it was the largest map in the world.
DEPARTMENT OF THE NAVY -- NAVAL HISTORICAL CENTER 805 KIDDER BREESE SE -WASHINGTON NAVY YARD WASHINGTON DC 20374-5060
Photo #: NH 104135 Iwo Jima Operation, February-March 1945 “Relief Map of Iwo Jima --- U.S. Navy carrier pilots were briefed for their strikes against Iwo Jima through the use of detailed relief maps such as this one”. Quoted from the original photo caption, filed 6 April 1945. Mount Suribachi, at the island’s southern end, is in the lower right. The original photograph came from Rear Admiral Samuel Eliot Morison’s World War II history project working files. It was provided to Morison by E.J. Long. Official U.S. Navy Photograph, from the collections of the Naval Historical Center. Photo #: NH 104377-KN (color) Iwo Jima Operation, 1945 Diagram of the island’s invasion beaches, identified by colors green, red, yellow and blue; the alternate beaches on the other side of Iwo Jima, identified by colors purple, brown, white and orange; the landing ship and transport areas offshore; and the lines of approach used by boats from USS Sanborn (APA-93) to Beaches Blue One and Two. Original 35mm color transparency of a dragram probably prepared by Howard W. Whalen after World War II. Note that the arrow pointing “North” actually points about fifteen degrees west of north.
Photo #: NH 104136 Iwo Jima Operation, February-March 1945 Contour map of Iwo Jima, showing Japanese defense installations as observed from ground study during the period 19 February - 19 March 1945. The original chart was prepared by Joint Intelligence Center, Pacific Ocean Area (JICPOA).
Collection of Lieutenant Commander Howard W. Whalen, USNR. Donated by Mrs. Nadine Whalen, 1997. U.S. Naval Historical Center Photograph.
The original print came from Rear Admiral Samuel Eliot Morison’s World War II history project working files. Official U.S. Navy Photograph, from the collections of the Naval Historical Center.
Photo #: NH 65318 “Liberators over Iwo Jima”, 15 December 1944 B-24 “Liberators of the Strategic Air Force send their bombs crashing down on Iwo Jima, Japanese air base in the Volcanoes. Smoke and dust belching up from the island show that one of its two airstrips have been hit. This raid of December 15 was one of a series of bombings of the vital Jap fields. The dark oval at the upper left of the photo is the aerilon (sic -- actually the port stabilizer and rudder) of the Liberator from which the picture was snapped. Note the volcano at the lower tip of the island. Some idea of the distances involved: Iwo Jima is 656 miles from Tokyo and 5500 miles from San Francisco, California.” Quoted from the original picture caption released for publication on 21 December 1944 by Commander in Chief, Pacific. The original photograph came from the illustrations package for Rear Admiral Samuel Eliot Morison’s “History of United States Naval Operations in World War II”, volume XIV: “Victory in the Pacific”. Official U.S. Army Photograph, from the collections of the Naval Historical Center.
Photo #: 80-G-K-2968 (Color) Iwo Jima Operation, 1945 Iwo Jima under fire during the pre-landing bombardment, circa 17-19 February 1945. View looks northeastward, with Mount Suribachi and Tobiishi Point in the foreground. Official U.S. Navy Photograph, now in the collections of the National Archives.
Photo #: NH 104141 Iwo Jima, Volcano Islands “Navy Planes Set Off New ‘Volcano” on Iwo Jima -- A trailing cloud of black smoke hovers over strategic Iwo Jima in the Pacific, not far from the cratered Mount Suribachi, source of many volcanic clouds in the past. This was one of the many Army and Navy blows loosed on the island in a long series of attacks climaxed by the Marine landings announced today.” Quoted from the original caption, released with this photograph on 19 February 1945. The view looks northeastward, with Mount Suribachi and Tobiishi Point in the foreground. Smoke is coming from fires at the East Boat Basin. Airfield Number Two is in the distance, with Airfield Number One between it and Mt. Suribachi. The shoreline running from just beyond Mt. Suribachi northeast to the Boat Basin was the scene of Beaches Green, Red (1 & 2), Yellow (1 & 2) and Blue (1 & 2), which were used during the initial landings and the follow-on phases of the invasion.
Photo #: NH 104139 Iwo Jima, Volcano Islands “’Tip’ The Marines will Take: Southwest Promontory of Iwo Jima -- Taken during an earlier aerial strike by Navy carrier-based planes, this aerial photograph of strategic Iwo Jima reveals the southwest tip of the island, with the cratered height of Mount Suribachi at the far end of Tobiishi Point. Announcement was made today that members of the Marines’ Fifth Amphibious Corps have swarmed ashore and opened the battle for the base following an obliterating preliminary barrage by hundreds of Navy ships and planes.” Quoted from the original caption, released with this photograph on 19 February 1945. The view looks approximately east, with Mount Suribachi in the lower right. Bombs are bursting at the southern end of Airfield Number One, in the left center. Note the agricultural fields between the camera and the airfield. Heavy surf all around the island indicates particularly bad weather on this day. The original print came from Rear Admiral Samuel Eliot Morison’s World War II history project working files. Official U.S. Navy Photograph, from the collections of the Naval Historical Center.
The original print came from Rear Admiral Samuel Eliot Morison’s World War II history project working files. It was provided to Morison by E.J. Long. Official U.S. Navy Photograph, from the collections of the Naval Historical Center. Photo #: 80-G-412474 Iwo Jima, Volcano Islands A TBM “Avenger” bomber flies near the Mount Suribachi (south) end of Iwo Jima, March 1945. Note the shipping off the island’s southwestern shore. Photographed by a member of the Steichen unit.
Official U.S. Navy Photograph, now in the collections of the National Archives.t