Map of the Month - February 2013

This month's featured map shows Long Island ca. 1860s. It was "sold for" Charles Magnus, a New York City-based lithographer, publisher, mapmaker, bookseller, and stationer active from 1850-1899. The map illustrates Long Island's industrial and commercial development, from the railroad lines connecting towns to the water stations pumping fresh water into Brooklyn. Interestingly, the map provides quite a bit of detail about Brooklyn. If you look closely, you will see the following Brooklyn-based names: Bushwick, Williamsburg, Bedford, Gowanus, Flatbush, New Utrecht, Flatlands, Gravensend, Gowanus, East New York, Greenwood Cemetery, Fort Hamilton, and Coney Island.

Map of Long-Island. ca. 1860s. Brooklyn Historical Society Map Collection.

(Click on the image to see more detail)

Interested in seeing more maps? You can view the BHS map collection anytime during the library's open hours, Wed.-Fri., from 1-5 p.m. No appointment is necessary to view most maps. Our cataloged maps can be searched through BobCat and our map inventories through Emma.

Map of the Month is part of a project to catalog our map holdings, funded through the Council on Library and Information Resources Hidden Collections program. If you would like to help us do more of this kind of work with our exciting map holdings, donate here.