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,…
Map of the Month - January 2013
This month's featured map shows a plan for the Parade Ground, laid out just south of Prospect Park. Parade grounds served a significant purpose in the 19th century by providing large expanses of land where the military could conduct drills and exercises. Originally, the park's designers Frederick Law Olmsted and Calvert Vaux proposed that the park's parade ground be located in East New York, but they later settled on an area south of the park. Completed in 1869, about two years after the park opened to the public, the Parade Ground served the military's needs while protecting the grasses…
Map of the Month - December 2012
This month's featured map is a reproduction of Hooker's Map of the Village of Brooklyn in the Year 1827. The reproduction was made in 1861 for Brooklyn reporter Henry McCloskey's Manual of the Corporation. Hooker's map is one of the earliest detailed maps of Brooklyn, showing wards, churches, the Brooklyn Navy Yard, the marshlands of Gowanus, and even Andre Parmentier's Garden, one of Brooklyn's earliest botanical gardens.
Map of the Month - October 2012
This month's featured map shows the Gravesend and Coney Island areas in 1787. Hand-copied by Teunis G. Bergen in 1861 "from an old map" that was "probably used in a suit ... in relation to fishing rights," the map features property, names of landowners, and landscape features. A prolific map maker and surveyor, Teunis G. Bergen made hundreds of maps during his lifetime, many of which can be viewed in the BHS Map Collection and the Teunis G. Bergen and Bergen Family Collection. Bergen was also an active historian and genealogist, and served as a U.S. Representative in Congress during the…
Map of the Month - September 2012
This month's featured map is the oldest item in the BHS Map Collection, dating from approximately 1562. It was created by the Italian cartographer Girolaneo Ruscelli, based on an 1548 map by Giacomo Gastaldi. The map shows the eastern coast of the United States and Canada, from Florida to Labrador. Its main focus is what we know today as the Mid-Atlantic, New England, and Nova Scotia. "Angoulesme" is likely New York Harbor, "Flora" is likely the southern coast of Long Island, and "Brisa" is probably Block Island. It is interesting to note that the map does not show the coasts of either modern…
Map of the Month - August 2012
This month's featured map of Brooklyn's Prospect Park was first posted on our blog by Allison back in May 2010 - but it is so beautiful that we wanted to showcase it again. An 1871 design from Olmsted, Vaux & Co, Landscape Architects, the map was made while the park was both open and still under construction. Today the central branch of the Brooklyn Public Library and Mount Prospect Park sit on what was the reservoir’s land. Also of interest is the land for sale around the reservoir -- part of which makes up today’s Brooklyn Botanic Garden.…
Map of the Month - July 2012
This month's featured map is attributed to Matthaeus Seutter and Augustine Herrman and dates from approximately 1740. It is the 3rd state (or edition) of the map, and is part of the Jansson-Visscher series of maps (for comparison, look at Nicholas Visscher's Novi Belgii Novaeque Angliae nec non partis Virginiae tabula, which was featured on Map of the Month in March 2011). For more information on early maps of the eastern United States (including the Jansson-Visscher series), please see this description from Fordham University Libraries. The map includes a decorative cartouche, illustrations…
Map of the Month - June 2012
Titled "Panorama of the Great Metropolis," this month's featured map actually consists of three maps and two bird's-eye views. The maps shows the city of New York, the city of Brooklyn, and the Hudson River, while the views and illustrations provide images of New York City, including tourist attractions such as Union Square and the Latting Conservatory. Although this piece isn't dated, it's likely that it was used to promote the Exhibition of the Industry of All Nations, a World’s Fair held in New York City in 1853.…
Map of the Month - May 2012
This month's featured map is from the Gazzettiere Americano, an atlas published in Livorno, Italy in 1763. The map shows New York Harbor and surrounding areas, and includes a number of Brooklyn references. If you look closely, you will see the following names on the Brooklyn area of the map: Bushwick, Brockland, Redhook, Flatland, Flatbush, Gravesend, Utrecht, and Coney Isola. The small numbers on the map are called soundings and they represent water depths. Soundings were commonly featured on early nautical charts and maps and are still used today in navigation.…
Map of the Month - March 2013
This month's featured map was published by the German publishers Wagner & Debes circa 1900. It likely reflects the high volume of German-Americans residing in Brooklyn at the time. According to Montrose Morris of Brownstoner, by the end of the 19th century, German Americans were the most successful ethnic group in New York City. In trying to date this particular map, we looked at the various clubs that are listed in the key at the bottom left, one being the Germania Club. As Morris notes, the Germania Club was founded in 1859 and was originally located on Atlantic and Court Streets. …
Map of the Month - April 2012
This month's featured map dates from 1828 and features the "country thirty miles round the city of New York," including all five boroughs as well as portions of New Jersey, Long Island, and Connecticut. Drawn by J.H. Eddy of New York, this map is a new edition with edits by William Hooker and E. Blunt. While the map shows traditional elements such as roads, topography, and names of landowners (including the Lefferts, Cortelyou, and Vanderveer families in Brooklyn), it also shows more unusual things like taverns. The map appears to have been dedicated to Dewitt Clinton, Governor of New York,…
Map of the Month - January 2013
This month's featured map shows a plan for the Parade Ground, laid out just south of Prospect Park. Parade grounds served a significant purpose in the 19th century by providing large expanses of land where the military could conduct drills and exercises. Originally, the park's designers Frederick Law Olmsted and Calvert Vaux proposed that the park's parade ground be located in East New York, but they later settled on an area south of the park. Completed in 1869, about two years after the park opened to the public, the Parade Ground served the military's needs while protecting the grasses of…
Mapping Weeksville
Recently, BHS staff had the privilege of touring the historic Hunterfly Road Houses at the Weeksville Heritage Center (WHC) in Bedford-Stuyvesant. The houses are original structures dating from the 1840s to the 1880s, and offer an intimate look into the lives of African Americans in Brooklyn. Founded by James Weeks in 1838, Weeksville was a free African American community with an independent infrastructure, including schools, an orphanage, churches, and newspapers. Below are some images that I took during our visit to WHC:…
Map of the Month - March 2012
This month's featured map was created by the Ohman Map Co., a New York-based map company located at 258 Broadway, in the early 1900s. One of only a handful of maps in the BHS Collection to show ethnic communities in Brooklyn, it features various groups, from Europeans to African Americans to people of mixed heritage. It is clear from this map that early 20th century Brooklyn was a diverse community of people, just as it is today.…
Brooklyn's secret garden?
I love learning about Brooklyn through the BHS Map Collection. Looking at early 19th century maps reveals a very different landscape from our modern Brooklyn, one filled with farms and streets that have long since disappeared. My favorite discovery from this period is Brooklyn's first botanic garden, which was located at the junction of the Jamaica and Flatbush Turnpikes, in what is now the Fort Greene/Prospect Heights area. The garden was created by Andre Parmentier in 1825 and consisted of twenty-four acres, featuring fruit trees and bushes, flowers, and other plants. The following map…
Map of the Month - February 2012
This month's featured map was created by the prolific Brooklyn surveyor Teunis G. Bergen, who copied it from an "ancient map." According to Bergen, there was no date or surveyor's name on the "ancient map," but it was probably made before 1750. The map roughly covers modern-day Brooklyn Heights south to the Gowanus and shows buildings and names of landowners. Please note that any writing on the map with an asterisk was added by Bergen and not found on the original map. If you're interested in learning more about Bergen, the BHS archive has an amazing collection of his writings and maps.…
The Changing Shape of Coney Island
Even with the best of technology and intentions, early mapmakers didn't always get it right. Browsing through the map collection a few weeks ago, I noticed that the shape of one of Brooklyn's most iconic features, Coney Island, appears drastically different from one map to another. While it's easy to think of maps as authoritative, scientific representations of geographic space, looking at these helps me to remember that maps are also interpretative. As such, they are affected by the historical context in which they were created and may reflect biases or contain inaccuracies. Either that, or…
Map of the Month - January 2012
This month's featured map dates from approximately 1776 and shows the routes of American and British troops throughout the New York area before, during, and after the "Engagement on the Heights" of August 27th, 1776. Known alternately as the Battle of Long Island, the Battle of Brooklyn, and the Battle of Brooklyn Heights, this event was a significant moment in the Revolutionary War. Some historical sites relevant to the battle can still be visited today, including Battle Pass in Prospect Park, the Prison Ships Martyrs Monument, and the Old Stone House. Enjoy!…
Can you solve the map mystery?
When I catalog historical maps, I always try to figure out the modern geographic area that they cover, ideally down to the neighborhood level. Usually, I can find the answer, but the following map has me stumped. It likely covers some part of Brooklyn, but that's about as much as I can figure out. So I'm sending this out to all you map sleuths with the hopes that you can solve the mystery. Thanks for your help!
Map of the Month - December 2011
This month's featured map depicts the New York City subway system in 1955. Published by the Union Dime Savings Bank, the map shows various subway lines, stations, and sites of free transfer. Another interesting feature of the map is that it advertises banking by mail, calling it "the quickest and easiest way to open an account." Enjoy!