Connecticut 54 City Panoramic Maps on CD

$14.97     Qty:


SKU: B145

Panoramic Maps of Connecticut. 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.

Product Details

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. Ansonia 1921
2. Birmingham 1876
3. Bridgeport 1875
4. Bristol 1889
5. Bristol 1906
6. Cheshire 1882
7. Clinton 1881
8. Danbury 1875
9. Danbury 1884
10. Derby / Shelton 1898
11. Derby 1920
12. Enfield 1908
13. Essex / Centerbrook / Ivoryton 1881
14. Higganum 1881
15. Jewett City 1889
16. Madison 1881
17. Manchester 1914
18. Meriden 1918
19. Middletown 1877
20. Middletown 1915
21. Middletown 1915
22. Mystic River / West Mystic 1879
23. Naugatuck 1877
24. Naugatuck 1906
25. New Britain 1875
26. New Haven 1879
27. New London 1911
28. New Milford 1906
29. Norwalk / South Norwalk / East Norwalk 1899
30. Norwich 1876
31. Norwich 1912
32. Plainville 1878
33. Plainville 1907
34. Putnam 1877
35. Rockville 1877
36. Seymour 1879
37. Shelton 1919
38. South Manchester 1880
39. Southington 1914
40. Stafford Springs 1878
41. Stamford 1883
42. Thomaston 1879
43. Torrington 1889
44. Torrington 1907
45. Unionville 1878
46. Wallingford 1905
47. Waterbury 1899
48. Waterbury 1917
49. Watertown 1918
50. Willimantic 1882
51. Willimantic 1909
52. Windsor Locks 1877
53. Winsted 1908
54. Wolcottville between 1875 and 1878

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.


Some Additional Map Samples

 


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.