1846 Meyer Map of New Jersey

This is an 1846 Joseph Meyer map of New Jersey. A transportation map at its finest, Meyer focuses on the state's roads, railways, and canals. Three railroads traverse the state, but only the Camden and Amboy Railway is identified by name. The Camden and Amboy was the first railroad in operation in New Jersey and began running between Bordentown and Hightstown in 1831, only fifteen years before this map was published! Numerous cities, towns, and villages are labeled throughout, and distances between them are marked in miles. To complete the aesthetic of a transportation map, routes between Trenton and six regional cities (New York appears twice) provide an idea of how best to get from one place to the other and how long it will take.

Publication History

This map was created by Joseph Meyer and published in the 1850 edition of his Meyer's Zeitung Atlas. Curiously, the publication information provided below the bottom border lists Heidelberg, Amsterdam, Paris, and Philadelphia as cities of publication, suggesting that Meyer had publishing agreements with atlas publishers in France, Holland, and the United States. Meyer published two editions of his atlas: the first in 1845 and a second in 1850.