When I was a little boy, my dad would take an ordinary brown paper grocery bag, carefully tear it apart, and flatten it into a sheet of paper. He'd burn the edges to make it look like something rescued from a shipwreck, then draw a treasure map. Somewhere in the house or backyard, he'd hide a treasure, and with that map in hand, I'd set off on an adventure.
Looking back, I think that's where my love of maps truly began.
To me, maps have always represented more than geography. They're about pirates, buried treasure, sailing across oceans, and discovering places you've never been. A map can transport you halfway around the world without ever leaving your living room.
Antique maps offer something even more special: a window into the past. Long before GPS and digital screens, these were the tools people used to navigate, explore, and understand the world around them. Every old coastline, forgotten place name, and changing border tells a story about the world as it once was.
In 2024, I turned that lifelong fascination into Terrell & Son Old Maps & Prints, bringing antique maps and historic prints to markets throughout the San Francisco Bay Area.
Today, one of the greatest joys of this business is getting to share that same sense of curiosity and adventure with my son Thomas. What began with my father and a brown paper grocery bag has become a passion that now spans three generations.
And while the maps have changed, the magic of discovering the world through them remains exactly the same.
