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.

91. Middleville (Herkimer) 1890?
92. Millerton / Irondale 1887
93. Monroe 1923 192297. New York 94.Mount Florence (Peekskill) 189-?
95. Mount Morris. 1893
96. Governors Island (New York County) c1851
97. New York. c1851
98. New York. c1856.
99. New York. 1865
100. New York 1867
101. New York 1870
102. New York / Battery Park (New York) 1873
103. New York / Battery Park (New York) 1873
104. New York / Battery Park (New York) 1874
105. New York / Brooklyn (New York) 1875
106. New York 1876
107. New York 1876
108. New York / Brooklyn (New York) 1877
109. New York 1879
110. New York 1879
111. New York 1883
112. New York 1884
113. New York 1885
114. New York 1886
115. New York 1889
116. New York 1891
117. New York / Brooklyn (New York) 1892
118. New York 1905
119. New York 1907
120. Newburgh 1900?
121. Newport (Herkimer) 1890?
122. Niagara Falls 1882
123. Olean / Boardmanville 1882
124. Oneida. 1874
125. Oneonta 1884
126. Oriskany Falls. 1891.
127. Oswego 1855
128. Oxford 1888?
129. Patchogue 1906
130. Pawling 1909
131. Pearl River 1924
132. Peekskill 1911
133. Perry. 1892
134. Philmont 1881
135. Plattsburgh 1877
136. Plattsburgh 1899
137. Poland 1890?

138. Port Henry 1889
139. Port Jervis 1920
140. Potsdam 1885
141. Poughkeepsie 1874
142. Pulaski 1885
143. Queens (New York) 1915?
144. Rhinebeck 1890
145. Richfield Springs 1885
146. Riverhead (Town) 1903
147. Rochester 1880 1879
148. Rockton. 1890
149. Rome 1886?
150. Salem 1889
151. Sandy Hill 1884
152. Saratoga Springs 1874
153. Saratoga Springs 1888
154. Schaghticoke 1889?
155. Schuylerville 1889
156. Sherburne 1887
157. Shortsville 1892
158. Sidney 1887
159. Silver Creek 1892
160. Skaneateles 1884
161. Springville (Erie County) 1892
162. St Johnsville 1890?
163. Stamford 1890
174. Stillwater 1889
165. Syracuse. 1874
166. Ticonderoga 1884
167. Ticonderoga 1891
168. Troy 1881
169. Unadilla 1887
170. Utica 1873
171. Valley Falls 1887
172. Valley Stream 1924
173. Walden (Orange County) 1887
174. Walton 1887
175. Wappingers Falls 1889
176. Warrensburg 1891
177. Warsaw 1885
178. Warwick 1887
179. Watertown 1891
180. Waterville 1885
181. Waverly 1881
182. Weedsport 1885
183. West Chazy 1899
184. White Plains 1887
185. Windsor 1887
186. World's Fair (Proposed), 1883 (Manhattan, New York) 1879
187. Whitesboro 1891

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 both Windows platforms and full installation instructions are included on the CD.

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