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Albany

We were intrigued the railroad line shown to run along State Street, terminating at a "rail road house" at State and Eagle. Maybe this was a connector for the earlier version of the Albany & Schenectady Railroad.

new_york_state_atlast_1838_Albany.jpg

Troy

One of the things that caught our eye on the Troy map: the ferries running across the Hudson River between Troy and "West Troy" and "Gibbonsville."

new_york_state_atlast_1838_Troy.jpg

Hudson

Check out the riverfront and the listing of the "whale fishery docks." Of course, the whaling industry was an important of Hudson's history. (And it why the whale stills serves as a symbol of the city today.)

new_york_state_atlast_1838_Hudson.jpg

Albany, Troy, and Hudson in high contrast

new york state atlas 1838 Troy closeup

Check out this beautiful old atlas of New York State, originally published in 1838. It was the creation of the cartographer David H. Burr. And it's available online thanks to the digital collection of the New York Public Library.

There's something about the high-contrast black-and-white color scheme and the way various features -- like the Hudson River -- are rendered that we really like.

The atlas includes maps for counties around the states. But the parts that were most interesting to us were the old city maps. We pulled a few -- for Albany, Troy, and Hudson -- and there are after the jump in large format, along with a few quick notes.


The maps are above -- click or scroll all the way up.

Comments

That 'railroad house' at State and Eagle would have been what was later called the Van Vechten Building. A few tidbits about it here:

https://kamcgop.wordpress.com/2015/02/23/the-van-vechten-building-119-121-state-street/

If you look at the Albany city map on page 3, there appears to be a railroad running down what is now Third Ave. Does anyone know anything about this?

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