The information below is based on maps in the map collection of Denver Public Library, which is incomplete. We welcome any additional information or maps that will help us fill in gaps or correct any inaccuracies.
1908-Present
For well over 100 years road maps have evolved to meet the ever-changing needs of the driving public. This guide illustrates the progression of the various types of road maps issued by state agencies and private companies since 1908.
These maps were almost universally offered to the public for free for the entire history of publication, paid for by advertising or state taxes. However, for a short period in the early 1980s official state highway maps were published showing a nominal price. In 1984, for example, “10 cents” appears on the folded cover panel.
Through 1973, most editions included a prominent publication date. From 1974 onward, the date appeared only in small text (for example, “76”, “78-1”, or “2006”) in the lower left corner of the map, or not at all. When the date is missing entirely, estimating the year of publication relies on assessing the creation of points of interest, newly opened or recently paved highways, terms of office for people listed like governors and highway commissioners, census figures, or other information found on the sheet. If you believe you have information that shows our estimate for any of our maps is in error, please let us know.
Colorado State Transportation Agency / CDOT
- State Highway Commission (1909-1917)
- State Highway Department (1917-1953)
- Colorado Department of Highways (1953-1991)
- Colorado Department of Transportation (1991-present)
Early Maps
One-off Publications
1912 - First known highway map issued by the new commission: “Map showing system of main roads in Colorado now open to travel”
1914 - “Sketch map of Colorado”, highlighting primary and secondary roads, along with the “advisory board districts”. The five regional advisory boards provided local recommendations and knowledge to the three-member State Highway Commission, supporting the development and prioritization of highways around the state.
Types of State Highway Maps Issued by Colorado
1916-1938: Map of the State Highways of Colorado
This functional yet user-friendly series was issued by the state, but produced and published through, and copyrighted by, Clason Map Company until around 1920. Afterward, the state appears to have tried different approaches to printing, with W.H. Kistler Stationery and Smith-Brooks Printing contracted for this in the mid-1920s. The state took over printing for good by the late 1920s.
From 1923 through 1939, state highway maps bear the cartographer’s name of “H.O. Wagner” in the lower left corner.
Some other titles found on these maps include:
- Map Showing System of Main Roads in Colorado Now Open to Travel
- Map of Colorado’s Good Roads System
- Map of Colorado’s Streamlined State Highways
In 1938 Colorado issued the last in its series of bureaucratic, functional maps. These were meant for the traveling public, but not touristy in the modern sense.
1938-present
Beginning in 1938, the state began using its state highway maps to directly promote tourism to Colorado–a tradition it continues today. During the first ten years in particular, the maps showcased more dramatic art and colorful graphics than what can be found in later editions.
State Highway Tourist Maps (1938-present)
Early on the state issued updated road maps annually.
Beginning around 1966 and continuing through 1975, the state issued a summer and winter edition, using the same maps but with more seasonally targeted information and illustrations. Ski resort information with photographs of snowy landscapes in the winter, and summery photographs of dry hiking trails and clear mountain roads in the summer.
From 1976 to 2002 an annual schedule resumed. Since 2002, new editions have been issued approximately every four years, with minor variations.
State Highway Map, State of Colorado (1950-1980s)
Around 1950, the Colorado State Highway Department, as part of a larger collaboration with the Federal Highway Administration, began issuing a purely functional black-and-white map giving more details on highway infrastructure than was needed for the state highway tourist maps. Beginning in the mid-1950s, the title for this series changed to Colorado State Highway System Map.
All known editions include 1-2 insets showing a detailed view of Denver, and later including the “Platte Valley” north of the city up to Loveland.
It’s uncertain when this series ended, though the latest edition the library holds is 1982.
State Highway Tourist Map Titles
Titles for this long-running series have varied over the years. Here is a list of known titles and the period they were used. Small variants of the titles occurred, though not all are noted below. In many years, more than one title is used.
Map of Colorado’s Streamlined State Highways
With major modernization of state highways in the 1930s, the State Highway Department promoted this through frequent use of the word “streamlined” to convey the idea that you could travel Colorado’s mountains and rural areas on a much wider network of paved roads following a major $50 million project.
Colorful Colorado
“Colorful Colorado” has served as a popular tourist motto on road signs and maps since the mid-20th century. At first the title was used only on supplemental pictorial state maps printed within the main state map foldout. From 1955, the title begins to be found on the folded exterior of highway maps until around 1981, sometimes followed by the date of the map (for example, “Colorful Colorado 1968”). An early use of the phrase “Colorful Colorado” appears in the governor’s letter on the highway map in 1938.
Colorado Travel Map / Colorado Travel Map of Colorado for [year]
Printed alongside the map, either just below or just above the legend. Mostly used in the early 1960s. Notably this title never appeared on the folded cover.
Colorado State Map
For a brief period in the late 1990s, this straightforward title adorned the covers of the state’s official highway map.
Official Map to Colorado Scenery and Adventure / Colorado, Official Map to Scenery and Adventure
Coinciding with the switch to a once-every-four-year schedule (approximately 2002 onward), this title appears on the folded exterior of the official state highway map. In a throwback to summer and winter editions, maps with this title feature multiple cover art images on the title panels to showcase the various Colorado seasons. The map inside does not display a separate title.
Commercial Publishers
The list of companies creating state road maps of Colorado is long, and the list below is probably incomplete. Please contact us if you find additional road maps produced by companies not on this list, and consider donating maps of Colorado if they’re not already in our collection.
Clason Map Company (1909-early 1930s)
Initially based in Denver, Clason was an early “booster” for the state, using its map products to encourage settlement and emigration. It was also the first company to develop maps dedicated to roads instead of railroads. Early Clason maps sometimes feature its owner’s name “George S. Clason” instead of “Clason Map Company”. Clason later moved its headquarters to Chicago, where other national cartographic firms were already located.
Clason's Colorado state road maps in the 1920s and 1930s carry the map identifier in the lower right corner as “Map No. R-208”. The company closed its doors in the early 1930s. Hotchkiss Mapping took possession of the Clason map plates and used them in the late 1930s to publish their own state maps, and even kept the map identifier.
H.M. Gousha (1927-1987)
Codes were used to identify the map’s publication year (for example, “B” indicated a 1928 year of publication). Gousha was a pioneer in the practice of issuing maps branded for oil companies and affiliated service stations, like Conoco and Texaco. This practice was later adopted by Rand McNally, General Drafting Company and, for a short time in the 1960s, by R.R. Donnelley and Sons.
Rand McNally
Like Clason, Chicago-based Rand McNally’s Colorado maps initially focused on basic geography and railroads. As automobile drivers continued to successfully advocate for better roads, Rand McNally also began creating maps specifically for this market, and continues to do so today.
American Automobile Association (now AAA)
Starting from at least the 1970s and well into the 21st century, AAA regularly produced state highway maps for Colorado. The Rocky Mountain Motorists organization, AAA’s early local affiliate, produced Colorado road maps under its own name from the 1920s into the 1940s.
George F. Cram (Chicago, Illinois)
George F. Cram was a person, but also the name of his map publishing company in the late 19th and early 20th centuries. During this time Cram was a premier publisher of school atlases, which included state maps. These were general state maps, but later editions
GeoSystems Global Corporation (Lancaster, Pennsylvania)
The venture-capital funded spinoff successor to R.R. Donnelley and Sons Cartographic Division, GeoSystems issued several state highway maps in the 1990s. Denver Public Library holds a 1999 sheet map published as an insert for Frommer’s Colorado travel guide. Starting in 1997 GeoSystems began publishing a national road atlas, which included Colorado, under its own brand. By 2000, the company changed its name to reflect its most popular product, MapQuest.
General Drafting Company (New York, NY)
A stand-alone entity from 1909-1992, General Drafting produced road maps, mostly for Standard Oil. Denver Public Library holds scattered examples of these, including an early 1940s map produced for Socony-Vacuum Oil Company. Socony is a contraction of Standard Oil Company of New York.
Map America Corporation (Franklin, Tennessee)
Custom cartographic firm contracted by the Colorado Travel and Tourism Authority in the 1990s to create a tourism-centric state road map–even more touristy than the state highway map produced by the Colorado Department of Transportation.
Mapsco (Addison, Texas)
A regional Texas map publisher for most of its existence, Mapsco’s parent company purchased Pierson Graphics (a Colorado firm creating Colorado city and county maps), and branched out into other states. Denver Public Library holds a 2002 edition of its Colorado road map.
Mid-West Map Company (Aurora, Missouri)
Taking part in the burgeoning road map business was Mid-West Map Company, based out of Missouri. Active from the 1920s into the 1950s, the company only produced Colorado road maps during the 1930s. From the late 1940s until they closed operations, Mid-West published Iowa county plat map atlases.
R.R. Donnelley and Sons (Chicago, Illinois, and Lancaster, Pennsylvania)
A late arrival to the ‘free gas station map’ market, this company, also based in Chicago, only stayed in this market for a short time. Denver Public Library holds one Colorado map from R.R. Donnelley – a small-scale 1969 map covering Idaho, Montana, Colorado, and Wyoming. The company’s Cartographic Services unit also produced road atlases and other products.
20th Century Denver-based Cartographic Publishers
Besides Clason Map Company, which closed its doors in the 1930s during the Great Depression, several other firms created state road and highway maps. Most of these were published during the 1920s and 1930s when new road and highway construction was most active.
Below is a likely incomplete list of mapmakers during this time period, with an approximate assessment of the firm’s main business and major period of map publishing activity. Note that this only covers the 20th century.
- Commercial Copying and Map Company: Denver printing firm creating maps in the 1910s
- Hotchkiss Mapping: Denver cartographic firm, active from around 1935-1955. Hotchkiss is more known for publishing city maps, but in the 1930s they obtained the map plates of the recently defunct Clason Map Company. Early Hotchkiss state maps from the mid-late 1930s show the same Clason design and plate number, but with an “AA” added to the number (“Map No. R-208-AA”).
- Denver Motor Club: Denver-based better-roads advocacy organization, which contracted with Commercial Copying and Map Company to produce road maps in the mid-1910s.
- Daniel-Smith Company: Denver printing firm, mostly producing Denver city maps in the 1930s and 1940s, but produced at least one state road map in the late 1920s, with a legend similar to Clason’s.
- Halbert W. Marsh: Denver realtor, who published several large Denver real estate maps from 1930-1960 (including one hanging inside Union Station), but also drafted a Colorado road map for Denver publisher E.F. Malone in 1921)
- Smith-Brooks: Denver printing firm creating maps in the early 20th century, with Denver Public Library holding a copy of its 1920 Colorado state map. Cartographically, the company mostly published city maps of Denver.