Lithograph.

North oriented to left.

Printed at bottom: "Bird's-Eye View Of The City of Seattle, Puget Sound, Washington Territory, 1878."

Printed above title: "Entered according to Act of Congress, in the year 1878, by E. S. Glover, in the Office of the Librarian of Congress."

Printed in bottom border on left: "Drawn by E. S. Glover, Portland, Oregon."

Printed in bottom border on right: "A. L. Bancroft & Co., Lithographers, San Francisco."

Printed key for various buildings and geographic entities along bottom border includes various churches, the "University Building" for the University of Washington, the Puget Sound Business College, Gas Works, Masonic Hall, the fire station, the Council Chamber, Y.M.C.A. rooms, the Seattle and Walla Walla Railroad, Lake Washington, Lake Union, and the Cascade Mountains. Of note the Seattle Coal and Transportation Co. Railroad and coal wharf is labeled. Major streets including Cherry Street, Mill Street (Yesler), Jackson Street, Main Street, Washington Street, James Street, Fourth Street, Columbia Street, Marion Street, Front Street (1st Avenue), Commerical Street (1st Avenue S.), Seneca Street and Second Street are shown.

Eli Sheldon Glover was a traveling mapmaker who made a business drawing “bird-eye” views of cities and selling the prints to publishers. Glover was born near Battle Creek, Michigan in August 1845. At 16, Glover taught school for a short time and then attended a course at the Art League in New York. Using some of his training in painting and lithography, he formed a business making “bird’s-eye views” or “pictorial plats of cities” including depictions of homes and buildings. After marrying Sara Belle Latta in the early 1870s, Glover headed West and first settled in Salt Lake City. In 1879, Glover returned to Battle Creek, MI and tried to undertake various business enterprises such as creating a machine to bind books and a machine to brew coffee. In 1889, he headed back to the West, having acquired land near Tacoma, WA in exchange for creating a “bird’s-eye view” of that city. After his move to Tacoma, he spent most of his time working on his property (Korn, 6-7; Anderson). His works include various bird’s-eye maps of major cities including Seattle, Portland, Tacoma, San Diego and Victoria (Anderson). The first known map of Seattle was created in 1854 by a U.S. navy crew. It was not until 1878, when E.S. Glover drew a “bird’s-eye view” of the city that Seattle was mapped again. Glover began his technique by drawing a layout of the city’s “topography and streets.” He then chose a viewpoint and began sketching major landmarks on the street such as buildings and docks. At the time that Glover drew this map, Seattle contained only about 3000 residents with a heavy lumber industry and an assortment of mudflats in the south. Of note, the business district depicted takes up only 6 blocks (Anderson). Seattle was first officially settled in 1851 with the arrival of Arthur Denny and a small number of settlers. In 1852, businessman, Henry Yesler, chose Seattle as the site for a mill. Ten years later, Seattle was chosen as the site for the Territorial University. By 1870, the small village-like town numbered 1100 residents (Crowley). Source(s): Anderson, Ross. “Pinpoints, Plots, Plats and Panoramas.” The Seattle Times. 18 Sept. 2001. Accessed November 11, 2008. Buerge, David. “Seattle in the 1880s.” Seattle: Historical Society of Seattle and King County, 1986. Crowley, Walt. “Seattle – Thumbnail History.” 26 Sept. 2006. Historylink.org. Accessed 21 Nov. 2008. Korn, A. L. “Preface.” In “The Diary of Eli Sheldon Glover.” Fairfield, WA: Ye Galleon Press, 1987. 5-8.

• Subjects (LCSH): Seattle (Wash.)-Aerial views-Maps; Seattle (Wash.)-Pictorial works
• Categories: Bird's eye view; Pacific Northwest