Color Facsimile of Plano Particular
de la Ciudad de San Agustin de la Florida Cartographer: Mariano de la Rocque,
Chief Engineer, Spanish East Florida
Date: 1788
Original Dimensions:
Original Medium: Paper; subsequently
backed with linen and silked with sheer linen cloth
Donated by: The Bureau of Land
Management and the P.G.A./World Golf Village.
One of the most important maps
in St. Augustine's history, the Plano Particular by Mariano de la
Rocque is the most accurate 18th century plat map of the city. Photocopies
of the map have been used by historians and archaeologists for decades
to pinpoint the location of streets, houses, lot lines, and outbuildings
in the city, as well as to study colonial architecture. This facsimile
is a full scale reproduction of the original, and was accompanied by a
second donation (not shown) of a 19th century copy of Rocque's map.
The act of copying explains the many marks on the Rocque map, which include
a pencil gridwork used as a measuring device to create a duplicate and
notations about where copies would be sent. Facsimiles were also
donated by the BLM and the PGA to the City of St. Augustine and the St.
Augustine Historical Society, thus ensuring that the map, in full color,
will be easily accessible to scholars in Florida. The original map
first went to the Library of Congress as part of the East Florida Papers
and was later transferred to the Bureau of Land Management, the archive
for official plats of U.S. towns.
