Rand McNally & Company is one of the most important Online Map Makers. This American publisher of maps, globes and atlases are highly useful for reference, travel, commercial and educational application. Maps of Rand McNally & Company include street maps and directions, as well as mileage data for online consumers as well and commercial transportation routing software.
The headquarter of Rand Mcnally is located in the Chicago suburb of Skokie, Illinois with other additional offices in Markham, Ontario and Irvine, California and a distribution center in Richmond, Kentucky. William Rand established a printing shop in Chicago in the year of 1856, after which he appointed Andrew McNally, a newly appeared Irish immigrant to work in his shop. As the shop did well in the business with the forefather of the Chicago Tribune, by 1859 Rand and McNally were selected to operate the Tribune’s entire printing work. In 1868, they created Rand McNally & Co. and bought the Tribune’s printing business.
In 1870, the company developed into printing the People’s Weekly, which was an illustrated newspaper and business directories. Rand Mcnally introduced a new engraving method of map-making, which was cost saving. This was first published in the Railroad Guide of the December 1872 edition. By 1899, the company had about 700 people. With time William Rand took retirement and sold his share to the other company officers. Until his death in 1904 Andrew McNally remained the president. Rand McNally was the first major map publisher to accommodate a system of numbered highways.
David Rumsey Historical Map Collection