Michigan Panoramic Maps. The panoramic map was a popular cartographic form used to depict U.S. and Canadian cities and towns during the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries (1847 to 1929.) Known also as bird's-eye views, perspective maps, and aero views, panoramic maps are nonphotographic representations of cities portrayed as if viewed from above at an oblique angle. Although not generally drawn to scale, they show street patterns, individual buildings, and major landscape features in perspective.
The panoramic map was a popular cartographic form used to depict U.S. and Canadian cities and towns during the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries (1847 to 1929.) Known also as bird's-eye views, perspective maps, and aero views, panoramic maps are nonphotographic representations of cities portrayed as if viewed from above at an oblique angle. Although not generally drawn to scale, they show street patterns, individual buildings, and major landscape features in perspective.
Panoramic maps graphically depict the vibrant life of a city. Harbors are shown choked with ships, often to the extent of constituting hazards to navigation. Trains speed along railroad tracks, at times on the same roadbed with locomotives and cars headed in the opposite direction. People and horsedrawn carriages fill the streets, and smoke belches from the stacks of industrial plants. Urban and industrial development in post-Civil War America is vividly portrayed in the maps.
Victorian America's panoramic maps are quite remarkable in the perspective of the cities they capture. Most panoramic maps were published independently, not as plates in an atlas or in a descriptive geographical book. Preparation and sale of nineteenth-century panoramas were motivated by civic pride and the desire of the city fathers to encourage commercial growth. Many views were prepared for and endorsed by chambers of commerce and other civic organizations and were used as advertisements of a city's commercial and residential potential. These maps reveal much about the great contrasts and contradictions of the industrial age and the progressive era.
Preparation of panoramic maps involved a vast amount of painstakingly detailed labor. For each project a frame or projection was developed, showing in perspective the pattern of streets. The artist then walked in the street, sketching buildings, trees, and other features to present a complete and accurate landscape as though seen from an elevation of 2,000 to 3,000 feet.
Panoramic maps graphically depict the vibrant life of a city. Harbors are shown choked with ships, often to the extent of constituting hazards to navigation. Trains speed along railroad tracks, at times on the same roadbed with locomotives and cars headed in the opposite direction. People and horsedrawn carriages fill the streets, and smoke belches from the stacks of industrial plants. Urban and industrial development in post-Civil War America is vividly portrayed in the maps.
Here is a complete list of the city maps included in this collection. Where you see a city listed several times, there are several different maps - either maps created in different years and/or by different map making companies.
| 1. Adrian 1866 2. Albion (Calhoun County) 1868? 3. Ann Arbor 1880 4. Battle Creek 1869? 5. Battle Creek 1870? 6. Battle Creek 188-? 7. Bay City 1867 8. Benton Harbor 1889 9. Bessemer 1886 10. Calumet / Hecla / Red Jacket 1881 11. Coldwater 1868? 12. Detroit 1889? 13. East Saginaw 1867 14. Grand Haven 1868 15. Grand Haven 1874 16. Grand Rapids 1868 17. Hillsdale 1866 18. Hudson 1868 19. Ionia 1868 20. Ironwood 1886 21. Jackson 1868? 22. Jackson 1881 23. Kalamazoo 1874 |
24. Kalamazoo 1883 25. Kalamazoo 1908 26. Lansing 1866 27. Marquette 1897 28. Marshall 1868? 29. Monroe 1866 30. Mount Clemens 1881 31. Muskegon 1868 32. Muskegon 1874 33. Muskegon 1889 34. Negaunee 1871 35. Niles 1868? 36. Pontiac 1867 37. Port Huron / Fort Gratiot (Port Huron) 1867 38. Port Huron 1894 39. Romeo 1868 40. Saginaw 1867 41. Saint Clair 1868 42. Saint Johns 1868 43. Tecumseh 1868 44. Wyandotte 1896 45. Ypsilanti 1868? |
Each map image on this CD is a super high resolution scan of an original panoramic map. Original maps were often as large as 36" x 36" or even larger. To offer all these maps at 100% detail, they are stored in either MRSid format or in JPEG 2000 format and require special viewers to be able to view all the details in these superb historical maps. Viewers and full viewing instructions for Windows computer platforms are included on this CD.
Below you will find an example of the enlargement ability of the maps contained on this CD. You will see how you can view a small snapshot of the image all the way up to an incredible level of detail at the highest resolutions. The below set of images comes from Mystic CT and gives an excellent example of the level of detail in these maps at various levels of "magnification".
(Smallest size of this image)
(Small portion enlarged 2 times)
(Small portion enlarged 3 times)
(Small portion enlarged 4 times)
(Small portion enlarged 5 times - this enlargement represents the full
original size of the map when printed at full scale.)
As you can see from the above images, each map offers hours of exploration and excitement as you explore the cities as they were 100 or more years ago.
These maps may be viewed on your computer or printed out. The software will allow you to size the maps to any level of detail you wish and either print out the entire map or just a portion of it. (Even full scale maps can be printed with a large enough printer - like the ones used in your neighborhood poster and print shops.)
To use this software, you must install the free Map Viewing software which is included on the CD. This is a 30 second process and will allow you to view and manipulate/print all the maps in this CD collection in full detail. There are versions for Windows platforms and full installation instructions are included on the CD.
