Santa Fe Bird's Eye View Map

This map depicts Santa Fe New Mexico in the late 1800s. Originally designated a s a capital city in the early 1600s, it was crowned the capital of New Mexico in the year 1852 once the territory was organized.This map shows a little bit of history and progress during that time. Santa Fe was long known as a pioneer destination. In fact, it was the final destination along the historic Santa Fe Trail. The trail was used by many as a commercial and military highway. It began in the non-assuming city of Franklin

Missouri, and led many people westward towards the promise of a new life, or gold.One tricky spot in all of this is that this major Western trading town was also a haven for desperados during that time period. The map pictured here shows Santa Fe as it looks just after the Topeka, Atchison, and Santa Fe railroad began to service the area. This mode of transportation, was new at the
time, yet it significantly opened up travel and encouraged many people to visit the area! The railroad, along with new telegraph lines, would continue to encourage trade, travel, and commerce in; and around, Santa Fe. You can see from the map that the outlying areas of the town already picture houses and homesteads.

The map denotes many buildings and landmarks quite clearly. The reference key at the bottom gives a numbered list of landmarks. The numbered list corresponds to the buildings that are numbered as such on the map. As evidenced by this rendering, Santa Fe had already established itself quite well containing a few banks, hospital, government establishments, and various colleges as well. Community life was thriving and the map tries its best to convey this through the use of small horse drawn carriages, placed at random throughout the streets of the map. This serves to show part of the expansion that was already in progress. Growth would boom a few short years there after.

All sizes are approximate.