This beautiful poster has been re-mastered from an original 1874 birds-eye view, pictorial map of Colorado Springs, Manitou, and Colorado City, Colorado. Pictorial maps depict a given territory with a more artistic rendition of a map, in contrast to a scaled road map, atlas, or topographic map. The map has numbered references to hundreds of the most prominent buildings and features of these cities in 1874.
The vibrant colors and detail of this classic image have been painstakingly brought back to life to preserve a great piece of history.
The high-resolution image is printed on heavy archival photo paper, on a large-format, professional giclée process printer. The poster is shipped in a rigid cardboard tube, and is ready for framing.
The 16”x20” format is an excellent image size that looks great as a stand-alone piece of art, or grouped as a visual statement. These posters require no cutting, trimming, or custom sizing, and a wide variety of these frames are readily available at your local craft or hobby retailer, and online.
A great vintage print for your home, shop, or business!
HISTORY OF COLORADO SPRINGS, MANITOU SPRINGS, AND PICTORIAL MAPS
COLORADO SPRINGS, COLORADO
Colorado Springs was established in 1871 by Jackson Palmer, a Civil War hero and railroad magnate. A planned community from its very beginnings, the city was without an industrial or manufacturing base, but it prospered just the same. Palmer used the area’s enticing scenery, nearby mineral springs, and other amenities to attract residents to resort. He laid out the broad streets, hauled in 10,000 trees to make the city green and lush, and built lavish buildings with a European sense of style.
The City of Colorado Springs is now a home-rule municipality that is the county seat and the most populous city of El Paso County, Colorado, United States. It is located in east-central Colorado, on Fountain Creek, 70 miles south of Denver.
At 6,035 feet elevation, the city stands over 1 mile above sea level, though some areas are significantly higher and lower. Colorado Springs is near the base of Pikes Peak, which rises 14,115 feet above sea level on the eastern edge of the Southern Rocky Mountains.
MANITOU SPRINGS
Manitou Springs was founded in 1872 by General William Jackson Palmer and Dr. William Abraham Bell, as a "scenic health resort". Bell's home, Briarhurst Manor, is open to the public as a fine dining restaurant, which is listed on the National Register of Historic places. In 1876, the town was incorporated. "Manitou Springs has been the quintessential tourist town since the 1870s, when visitors discovered the healing waters the Ute Indians had been drinking for years. Many of the town's mineral springs still function today and the water is free."
PICTORIAL MAPS
Pictorial maps (also known as illustrated maps, panoramic maps, perspective maps, bird’s-eye view maps, and geopictorial maps) depict a given territory with a more artistic rather than technical style. It is a type of map in contrast to road map, atlas, or topographic map. The cartography can be a sophisticated 3-D perspective landscape or a simple map graphic enlivened with illustrations of buildings, people and animals. They can feature all sorts of varied topics like historical events, legendary figures or local agricultural products and cover anything from an entire continent to a college campus.
Pictorial maps usually show an area as if viewed from above at an oblique angle. They are not generally drawn to scale in order to show street patterns, individual buildings, and major landscape features in perspective. While regular maps focus on the accurate rendition of distances, pictorial maps enhance landmarks and often incorporate a complex interplay of different scales into one image in order to give the viewer a more familiar sense of recognition. With an emphasis on objects and style, these maps cover an artistic spectrum from childlike caricature to spectacular landscape graphic, with the better ones being attractive, informative and highly accurate. Some require thousands of hours to produce.
