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Posted by: Meagan Snow
In mid-19th Century America, an expanding nation had a major transportation need: rail lines that could stretch from coast to coast. Western explorations and survey crews began to sketch out potential railroad routes in the decades before the American Civil War. Lloyd’s American railroad map of the US, seen below, shows three proposed rail routes: …
Posted in: 19th century cartography, American History
Posted by: Julie Stoner
This is a guest post by Manuscript Division reference librarian Lara Szypszak. On September 17, 1862, Union and Confederate forces met just outside the town of Sharpsburg, Maryland. The battle, known by Union forces as the Battle of Antietam (after the nearby creek) and by the Confederates as the Battle of Sharpsburg (after the nearest …
Posted in: 19th century cartography, Guest Posts, Military History
Posted by: Amelia Raines
When Ohio became a state in 1803, breaking off from the Northwest Territory, parts of the border remained ambiguous. Three decades later, this ambiguity led to a conflict between Ohioans and Michiganders which became known as the Toledo War. In the state’s enabling act, the northern boundary of Ohio was defined as “an east and …
Posted in: 18th century cartography, 19th century cartography, American History, Borders
Posted by: Julie Stoner
Please join us for the second session in a new series of virtual orientations for the Geography and Map Division, focusing on our collection of fire insurance maps! Date: Tuesday, August 9th, 2022 Time: 3:00-4:00 pm (Eastern) Location: Zoom Register Here Reference librarians Amelia Raines and Julie Stoner will present an introduction to the fire insurance maps housed …
Posted in: 19th century cartography, 20th century cartography, Geography and Map Division
Posted by: Amelia Raines
The dramatic eruption of Krakatoa (or Krakatau in Indonesian) in 1883 was, as our sister blog Headlines and Heroes describes it, “one of the first global catastrophes.” By its very destruction, this small Indonesian island was thrust onto the world stage, its name becoming almost shorthand for volcanic disaster. Geologist Rogier Verbeek, who had briefly …
Posted in: 19th century cartography, Asian History, Oceania, Physical Geography
Posted by: Amelia Raines
Recently I came across an interesting map of Florida in our collections. Dated 1823, the map was made only four years after the territory of Florida was ceded to the United States by Spain, and 22 years before it became a state in its own right. The map, authored by surveyor Charles Vignoles and engraved …
Posted in: 16th century cartography, 18th century cartography, 19th century cartography, 21st century cartography, American History, Hispanic American History, National Parks
Posted by: Tim St. Onge
For many Americans, Memorial Day marks the unofficial start to summer, and with the holiday weekend behind us, millions will be heading to the beaches, mountains, and everywhere in between for seasonal getaways over the next few months. Some of these vacationers will be among the roughly 5 million annual visitors to the natural wonder …
Posted in: 19th century cartography, American History, National Parks
Posted by: Meagan Snow
John Bachmann, a Swiss born lithographer, moved to the United States shortly after 1848, and went on to produce a series of bird’s eye maps that depict American landscapes in ways that were groundbreaking around the mid-nineteenth century. His work blurred the line between cartography and fine art, and his landscape prints are held by …
Posted in: 19th century cartography, American History
Posted by: Sonia Kahn
On a recent trip to New York City, I frequently found myself in the underbelly of the city, submerged below the hustle and bustle as I was transported up and down Manhattan. I couldn’t help but notice while I was visiting how the now antique mosaics depicting station names give the subway system character. It’s …
Posted in: 19th century cartography, 20th century cartography, City Histories