Map of the Month - November 2013

Bird's eye view of New York Harbor, 1907. Brooklyn Historical Society.

This month’s map of the month post is a sheet entitled “Bird’s Eye View of New York Harbor,” published by Geo. H. Walker of Boston in 1907. At first glance, it is a wonderful, sweeping view of a busy harbor as the eye follows the path of the ferries pouring from the mouth of the Hudson out into Upper New York Bay, through the Narrows past Coney Island to the Lower Bay. Beyond lies Sandy Hook and the Atlantic Ocean with tiny ships dotting the horizon on their way out into the wide world. It is a portrait of the Harbor itself, and its situation as an outlet to the world at the edge of a prosperous, bustling region.

Bird’s eye views were very popular in the United States in the nineteenth century, particularly in the decades following the Civil War. The development of lithography--a less labor-intensive and less expensive method of producing prints than engraving--made it possible for publishers and artists to profit from smaller print runs, and they were able to tailor views and maps for more narrow local markets. A successful industry was created to produce low-angle perspective drawings and maps of localities, drawing on a rising tide of local pride and paralleling the rise in popularity of county and local histories. These views survive for hundreds of towns, large and small. After 1870, the bird’s eye view, using high-angle perspective, became very popular. Artists very often used street atlases as references to create their views, and many bird’s eye views are valuable for historians as visual evidence of the development and history of a particular town. In some views, artists even took care to accurately document the appearance of architecturally significant buildings.

The artist who created this view of the Harbor was clearly not interested in the land features of New York in detail. If we look at the map closely, we see the shores are lined with large, boxy buildings that give a sense of the shipping stores that must have lined the waterfront, but the structures are characterless, generic. The artist has afforded more detailed treatment for a few more water-bound locations—the islands, the lighthouses, the Navy Yard, Erie Basin and a few points in New Jersey—but he focuses on depicting the harbor as a transportation hub. Notice the details of the ferry routes (12 are named) and connecting railroad routes. Automobile routes are also lightly drawn in (more than 50,000 automobiles were manufactured in the U.S. in 1907), and the Brooklyn and Williamsburg Bridges span the East River. In the lower right, the N.Y & N.J. Tunnel, completed for the New York and New Jersey Railroad by 1907 and opened in 1908, makes what must be one of its first appearances on a map. (It connects Hoboken with Morton Street in the Village and is now part of the PATH system.)

Is this view a map? Scholarly opinions differ. In the library catalog, you will be able to find it by searching for maps or aerial views. I can imagine this view framed and proudly hung in the office of a merchant at any location found in this view. It is a striking visual expression of local pride, and a celebration of the natural resources and industry that made the astonishing growth and prosperity of New York City possible.

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.

This map was cataloged with funding provided by a Council on Library and Information Resources (CLIR) “Hidden Collections” grant. We anticipate the majority of 20th century maps and atlases to be cataloged and available to researchers by Fall 2014.