Mapsco
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Mapsco is a privately-held publisher of maps and atlases, currently based in Addison, Texas that has become synonymous with the word 'map-book' in North Texas. After a 1988 recapitalization, Mapsco is now owned by Dallas-based Rupe Investment Corp., and it has turned into a mini-industry - map stores, maps for other cities, maps on CD-ROM[1].
[edit] History
Mapsco was founded by Milton Boyd Keith, owner of several Dallas, Texas florist shops[1]. In the early 1950s, Lily Kendrick was managing a group of flower shops owned by Keith in Dallas - the M.B. Keith Stores[1]. "Her regular delivery people knew their way around town, but when holidays came and she had to hire anyone with a car to make deliveries, they stayed lost all the time." claims Mrs. Kendrick's son, Choyce Kendrick[1]. Local maps were rare - and usually outdated[1]. So Mrs. Kendrick began to draw her own. And she put them on handy individual sheets of paper instead of one big, foldout mess. Thus, frustrated by inadequate local maps, which were costing him money in his flower deliveries, Keith and Kendrick, researched, designed, and indexed hand-drawn maps based on data from the Building Inspection Division of Dallas, the only source of accurate and up-to-date maps of the city. While early maps received limited distribution, in 1952, the first commercial edition of MAPSCO Street Guide of Dallas was published ending to the north at Royal Lane and to the south at Ledbetter Road[1].
