Map Division

Charting the Future I

Posted November 4th, 2009 by Matt Knutzen, Stephen A. Schwarzman Building, Map Division

Over the years, as we push more and more of our maps onto the web, such as Pieter Goos' Zee-Atlas, 1672, from which the below image was taken, we ask…
...what do we do with all this stuff?
...how do we make digital maps meaningful?

One approach is through our blog, where we highlight various places and themes depicted. Often there is much more to read between the contours, about, among other things the social, geographic and cultural mix from where the maps were generated; something we, in future posts, will take the time to illuminate.

Another approach to extend the reach, utility and meaningfulness of our maps is through digital geographic indexing. Our staff has thus far created map indexes for close to 1/3 of our 10,000 digitized maps, which you can read about here and download here, in effect opening an opportunity for readers to access our collections geographically.

And while schematic and geographic indexes serve a much needed function, they merely point to the next logical steps in the presentation and re-purposing of map images in a web context.

The first step is placing the maps themselves (as opposed to outlines of the map coverages) into geographic context, or put another way, turning pictures of maps into digital geospatial information, where a pixel can be read by a computer as a pair of coordinates, as latitude and longitude.

These images can then, in turn, be rendered using tools such as web map servers and the ubiquitous Google Earth. The image below is Plate 1 from William Perris' Maps of the City of New York, 1852, georectified and then rendered in Google Earth.

Stay tuned. In my next post I'll go the details about how we "stretch" maps for web presentation. We will also explain how you too can participate.

Filed in:

New York City Digital Geospatial Data

NYPL fire insurance atlases

NYPL 19th century county atlases of NY, NJ & CT

NYPL Digital Gallery Map Division (All digital maps)

Building footprints, curblines & survey control points

City data viewer

Elevation contours

Historical nautical charts

Nautical chart numbers

Official city data viewer

Property Records (Department of Finance)

Property Records (Property Shark)

Tax block/lot, administrative districts & street centerline

State, County & City Atlases

New Jersey Counties
Hyde, E.B. & Co., Atlas of Hunterdon County, New Jersey, 1873

Beers, F.W., Atlas of Monmouth co., New Jersey, 1873

Hyde, E.B. & Co., Atlas of Passaic County, New-Jersey, 1877

New York State
Burr, David H., An atlas of the state of New York, 1829

Burr, David H., An atlas of the state of New York, 1839, c1829

Burr, David H., Atlas of New York, 1838

Burr, David H., An atlas of the state of New York, 1841

Asher & Adams, New topographical atlas and gazetteer of New York, 1871

New York Counties

Beers, S.N. & D.G., New topographical atlas of the counties of Albany and Schenectady, New York, 1866

Everts, Ensign & Everts, Combination atlas map of Broome County, New York, 1876

Beers, F.W., County atlas of Cayuga, New York, 1875

Stewart, William, New topographical atlas of Chautauqua County, New York, 1867

Beers, F.W., Atlas of Chemung Co., New York, 1869

Nichols, Beach, Atlas of Chenango County, New York, 1875

Beers, F.W., Atlas of Clinton Co., New York, 1869

D. G. Beers & Co., Atlas of Columbia County, New York, 1873

Beers, F.W., Atlas of Delaware co., New York, 1869

Gray, W. and Son, New illustrated atlas of Dutchess County, New York, 1876

Stone & Stewart, New topographical atlas of Erie Co., New York, 1866

Beers, F.W., Illustrated historical atlas of Erie Co., New York, 1880

D. G. Beers & Co., Atlas of Franklin County, New York, 1876

Everts, Ensign & Everts, Combination atlas map of Genesee County, New York, 1876

Beers, S.N. & D.G., New topographical atlas of Jefferson Co., New York, 1864

Nichols, Beach, Atlas of Montgomery and Fulton counties, New York, 1868

Beers, D. G., Atlas of Madison County, New York, 1875

New! Hyde, E.B. Atlas of Nassau County, Long Island, N.Y., 1914

Beers, D. G. & Co., Atlas of Niagara and Orleans counties, New York, 1875

Stone, C. K., New topographical atlas of Oswego County, New York, 1867

Beers, F. W., Atlas of Otsego Co., New York, 1868

Beers, S. N., New topographical atlas of Saratoga Co., New York, 1866

Beers, S. N., New topographical atlas of Schoharie Co., New York, 1866

Beach, Nichols, Atlas of Schuyler County, New York, 1874

Beers, D. G. amp&; Co., Atlas of Steuben County, New York, 1873

Beers, S. N., New topographical atlas of St. Lawrence County, N.Y., 1865

Wendelken & Co., Atlas of the towns of Babylon, Islip, and south part of Brookhaven in Suffolk Co., 1888

New! Hyde, E.B. Atlas of ... Suffolk County, Long Island, New York, 1915-1917

Stone & Stewart, New topographical atlas of Tompkins County, New York, 1866

Hopkins, G. M. & Co., Atlas of the city of Utica, New York, 1883

Beers, D. G. & Co., Atlas of Wayne County, New York, 1874

J.B. Beers & Co., County atlas of Westchester, New York, 1872

New York State (City Atlases, non-NYC)

Hopkins, G.M., City atlas of Albany, New York, 1876

Hopkins, G.M., City atlas of Auburn, New York, 1882

Wendelken & Co., Atlas of the towns of Babylon, Islip, and south part of Brookhaven in Suffolk Co., 1888

Hopkins, G.M., Atlas of the City of Buffalo, Erie Co., 1872

M.S. Converse & Co., City atlas of Elmira, New York, 1876

Pidgeon, Roger H., Atlas of the City of Elmira, New York, 1896

Hopkins, G.M., City atlas of Oswego, New York, 1880

Beers, F.W. and Cramer, Louis H., Combination atlas of Saratoga and Ballston, 1876

Barton, William, Map of the city of Troy, West Troy and Green Island, N.Y., 1869

Hopkins, G.M., City atlas of Troy, New York, 1881

Hopkins, G.M., Atlas of the city of Utica, New York, 1883

New York City Fire Insurance Atlases

Fire Insurance maps are some of the most detailed city maps published, showing building structures, lot dimensions, shoreline locations and sometimes, property ownership. At the NYPL we have an extensive collection of these maps, originally published as atlases, primarily covering the New York City area. In the past three years, we have digitized over 3,100 pages from some 65 of these atlases. Also included in this collection of digital images are zoning maps and detailed topographic surveys conducted by some of the borough topographic bureaus. We are in the process of creating Google Earth based indexes for these collections. Please see the attached file at the bottom of this post.