Rand McNally ( 1856 - 1997)

The firm Rand McNally is not a single individual but a well-known American mapping and publishing company founded in 1856 by William H. Rand and Andrew McNally.

William Henry Rand (1828–1915) was a printer from Massachusetts who opened a printing shop in Chicago in 1856. Earlier in his career he had also been involved in founding Los Angeles’ first newspaper, the Los Angeles Star. Andrew McNally (1836–1904), an Irish immigrant and printer, joined Rand in 1858 on a wage of nine dollars per week. McNally quickly advanced within the business, rising from foreman to partner. The partners formally established the firm of Rand, McNally & Co. in 1868. In its early years the company concentrated on printing railroad tickets, timetables, and business directories. The firm later moved into map publishing, issuing its first map in 1872.

With the growth of automobile travel in the early c.20th the company expanded into road mapping. Rand McNally published its first road map in 1904 and in 1924 issued the Rand McNally Road Atlas, originally titled Auto Chum. In 1917 the company was also among the first major publishers to adopt a system of numbered highways and even erected roadside signs to assist motorists.

It was sold in 1997.