1881 Holmes Map of the West Village or Greenwich Village, New York City

This is of John Bute Holmes's rare 1881 cadastral map of Greenwich Village, or more properly the West Village, New York City. This is one of the earliest, if not the earliest, specific published maps of the West Village, including the Meatpacking District and southern Chelsea. Coverage extends from roughly Christopher Street to 21st Street and from the Hudson River to Broadway. Washington Square Park appears in the lower right corner and Broadway at the far right. Reference tables in the lower right and left corners reference deeds and other property documents on file with the city Clerk's office.

The Landowners

The map mentions several historic estates, among them the estates of Peter Warren, Samuel Boyd, and Joris Rapelje. Sir Peter Warren's estate was the largest, comprising nearly 300 acres of what is the modern-day Greenwich Village. Her he built his family estate, Warren House, in 1741. The map also covers the estate of Samuel Boyd, a prominent lawyer and Federalist who, along with Alexander Hamilton, founded the New York Evening Post. The Rapeljes were among the earliest Dutch founders of New Netherland with the family patriarch, Joris Rapelje, settling New York in 1624.

The Lotting of Manhattan

In the early 19th century most of Manhattan was undeveloped farm lands, the property of wealthy landowners with claims dating to the Dutch period of New York's history. The northern 2/3rd Manhattan was dotted with farm lands and sprawling gentlemanly estates, many with great manor houses overlooking the Hudson River. The Commissioner's Plan of 1811 and the 1807 Commission Law, laid the street grid through many of these properties and gave the city the right to claim these lands under eminent domain, providing due compensation to the landowners. While this work occurred early in lower Manhattan, central and upper Manhattan were not formally acquired by the city until the mid-19th century.

What Holmes Did and Why

Holmes became fascinated by the early history of Manhattan real estate ownership, recognizing the wealth to be accrued by accurately understanding the history of city land ownership, division, and inheritance. Moreover, Holmes allied himself with the corrupt Tweed administration, assuring himself and his allies even greater wealth and political power from the eminent domain seizure of old Manhattan estates. Holmes created a series of maps, reminiscent of John Randall's 'Farm Maps', overlaid with property data, showing the borders of old estates, and notating the breakup of the lands among various heirs. The complex work of compiling the maps earned Holmes a fortune, with one newspaper suggesting on his death in 1887 that some of his individual maps were worth more than 30,000 USD. There is no complete carto-bibliography of Holmes' maps, but we believe there to be at least 50 maps, possibly more.

Provenance

This map was acquired as a part of a large collection of New York cadastral maps associated with the layer Ronald K. Brown, a Deed Commissioner operating in the late 19th and early 20th century with an office at 76 Nassau Street, New York - not far from Holmes' own office. Most of the maps in the collection, including the present map, bear Brown's stamp on the verso. The maps were passed to Dominic Anthony Trotta, a real estate agent working under Brown. Brown seems to have ceased business around 1919, but Trotta continued as a real estate agent, becoming a New York Tax Commissioner in 1934 under the Fiorello H. La Guardia administration. The maps remained with Trotta's heirs until our acquisition of the collection.

Publication History and Census

This map was laid out and published in April of 1881 by John Bute Holmes. Like most Holmes maps, this map is today exceedingly rare. There are only two examples cited in the OCLC, at the University of Wisconsin and the New York State Library. We are aware of a 3rd uncatalogued example at the New York Public Library, at one in private hands.