Pennsylvania Panoramic Maps Volume 2. 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.
101. Millersburg 1894 102. Millersville 1894 103. Miners Mills / Mill Creek 1892 104. Minersville 1889 105. Mohnton 1898 106. Monaca 1900 107. Monongahela 1902 108. Montrose (Susquehanna County) 1890 109. Moosic 1892 110. Morrisville (Bucks County) 1893 111. Morrisville (Bucks County) 1900 112. Moscow 1891 113. Mount Joy (Lancaster County) 1894 114. Mount Pleasant (Westmoreland County) 1900 115. Mount Union (Huntingdon County) 1906 116. Mountville 1894 117. New Brighton 1883 118. New Brighton 1901 119. New Castle 1896 120. New Kensington 1896 121. New Kensington 1902 122. Newmanstown / Sheridan (Lebanon County) 1898 123. Newport / East Newport 1895 124. Newtown (Bucks County) 1893 125. Newville (Cumberland County) 1903 126. Norristown 1881 127. North East 1896 128. Oil City 1896 129. Orbisonia / Rockhill Furnance 1906 130. Oxford 1907 131. Peckville 1892 132. Pen Argyl 1894 133. Pen Argyl 1916 134. Pennsburg 1894 135. Perkasie 1894 136. Philadelphia 1857 137. Philadelphia 1870? 138. Philadelphia 1872 139. Philadelphia 1876 140. Philadelphia 1876 141. Philadelphia 1885 142. Philadelphia d1886 143. Philadelphia 1887 144. Philadelphia 1888 1887 145. Philadelphia 1907 146. Philadelphia 1908 147. Philadelphia / Philadelphia Metropolitan Area 1926? 148. Pitcairn 1901 149. Pittsburgh 1871 150. Pittsburgh 1874 151. Pittsburgh 1902 152. Pittston / West Pittston 1892 |
153. Plains 1892 154. Point Marion 1902 155. Pottsville 1833 156. Pottsville 1889 157. Providence (Scranton) 1892 158. Reading 1881 159. Reading 1898 160. Ridgway 1895 161. Rochester 1900 162. Roscoe 1902 163. Royersford 1893 164. Saint Marys (Elk County) 1895 165. Schwenksville 1894 166. Scranton 1890 167. Sellersville 1894 168. Sharon 1901 169. Sharpsville 1901 170. Sheffield 1895 171. Shenandoah 1889 172. Sinking Spring 1898 173. Somerset 1900 174. Souderton 1894 175. South Fork 1900 176. Strasburg 1903 177. Tarentum 1901 178. Telford 1894 179. Terre Hill 1894 180. Tidioute 1896 181. Tionesta 1896 182. Titusville 1871 183. Titusville 1896 184. Topton 1893 185. Towanda 1880 186. Tullytown 1887 187. Turtle Creek 1897 188. Tyrone 1895 189. Union City 1895 190. Uniontown (Fayette County) 1897 191. Valley Forge 1890 192. Verona / Oakmont (Allegheny County) 1896 193. Washington 1897 194. Waynesburg 1897 195. West Bethlehem Township 1894 196. West Newton 1900 197. Wilkes-Barre 1889 198. Williamsburg (Blair County) 1906 199. Wilmerding 1897 200. Wilson (Allegheny) / Mendelssohn 1902 201. Windber 1900 202. Wrightsville (York County) 1894 203. York 1852 204. York 1879 205. Zelienople 1901 |
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.