Maps play an integral role in real estate development, from surveying land for new building, to delineating plots for new homes, to managing utilities and infrastructure underpinning new communities. While maps for land development through history are expected to take on a scientific rigor and surveying precision, when it comes to real estate promotion in the late nineteenth century, a bit of cartographic artistry and flare seems to be a larger part of the effort, as we can see in maps from the Geography and Map Division’s collections.
Let’s begin our tour with two selections from the Panoramic Maps collection, which includes over a thousand maps that had the effect of promoting investments in American communities through artistic “birds eye view” portraits of towns and cities. Drawing from this subset of maps, depictions of new communities in Riverhead, New York and Martha’s Vineyard in Massachusetts are particularly intriguing as promoting summer homes. Located towards the eastern end of Long Island, Riverhead is depicted in this map, published around 1890, as a “summer resort” with community amenities and a rail connection to New York City. Illustrations of local landmarks and scenes, from “steamers on Peconic Bay” to several of the town’s eight churches “of all denominations,” surround the map frame. Within the map itself is a common theme in these kinds of maps: an array of streets and delineated, empty lots anticipating new homebuilding. Interestingly, despite no nearby homes yet built, a park space is depicted as bustling with people out for a stroll.
This 1880s map shows Lagoon Heights, a prospective new community in Cottage City, Massachusetts on Martha’s Vineyard. Cottage City was incorporated in 1880 but then re-incorporated in 1907 as Oak Bluffs, as it’s still known today. To promote development, the map’s scenery is fittingly picturesque, with sailboats dotting the coastline. Text beside the map puts the sales pitch simply: “Why not own a summer cottage at Lagoon Heights, which is acknowledged to be the most charming spot on this island of the sea?”
A different kind of sales pitch is on offer in this next map, published around 1898, for “National Prohibition Park” in Staten Island, New York. The National Prohibition Party purchased this area of land in 1887 to create a recreational summer retreat space for followers of the temperance movement. The focus of the community soon turned towards more year-round, permanent residences. In the map, skillfully illustrated homes are awaiting new neighbors in adjoining, numbered plots. Glowing testimonials from local leaders and illustrations of local landmarks complete the promotional materials of the map. Into the 1900s, interest in the National Prohibition Park as a “temperance town” declined, and the area’s park space and residences were absorbed into New York City’s park system and surrounding communities.
We’ll close out this tour with two of the most impressive promotional real estate maps of the set, depicting neighborhoods in and adjoining Washington, D.C. This 1890s map of “Section No. 2” of Chevy Chase, Maryland includes tree-lined streets and plots, but the main draws to the map include an elegant cartouche and numerous large, detailed illustrations of homes and gardens, meant to evoke the “good life” in this fashionable suburb.
The most vibrant map from this set must be this 1890 map, advertisement, and all-around work of art depicting a new Washington, D.C. residential subdivision. Palisades of the Potomac… is bursting with color and features immersive landscape scenes. Boasting “pure air and pure water” and “scenery unsurpassed,” we can imagine this map to be an effective tool for promoting development.
A blending of geographic accuracy and artistic flare is common in “persuasive” maps, and with rich illustrations and sweeping panoramas, late-nineteenth century real estate maps certainly fall into this cartographic category.