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1896 Hyde Map of Central Long Island, New York (Huntington, Islip, Smithtown, Babylon)

CentralLongIsland-hyde-1896
$250.00
Map of Long Island Based upon Recent U.S. Coast Surveys, Together with Local Maps on File. Supplemented by Careful Territorial Observations.  [Nassau County, Suffolk County, Huntington, Islip]. - Main View
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1896 Hyde Map of Central Long Island, New York (Huntington, Islip, Smithtown, Babylon)

CentralLongIsland-hyde-1896

Early map of Long Island with property owners.

Title


Map of Long Island Based upon Recent U.S. Coast Surveys, Together with Local Maps on File. Supplemented by Careful Territorial Observations. [Nassau County, Suffolk County, Huntington, Islip].
  1896 (undated)     37 x 35 in (93.98 x 88.9 cm)     1 : 48000

Description


This is the central section of a four part 1896 map series by E. Belcher Hyde, detailing central Long Island from Hempstead and Oyster Bay to Islip and Smithtown and from Fire Island north to Lloyd's Neck and Huntington Bay, including the eastern parts of Nassau County and the western parts of Suffolk County. The map is highly detailed and noted railways and stations, roads, bridges, rivers, inlets, bays, light houses, water works, houses, hotels, schools and a host of additional topotgraphical features.

Towns noted include Amityville, Farmingdale, Hicksville, Babylon, Islip, Bayshore, Northport, Huntington, Ronkonkoma, etc. Also identifies Jones Beach, Oak Island Beach and the western part of Fire Island including Point O'Woods. Individual property owners are noted. Identifies both the northern and southern lines of the Long Island Railroad.

This map was created based on information from the United States Coast Survey and consequently is rich with soundings and maritime details. This includes flagged lifesaving stations all along the coast of the island. This map was engraved by Balliet and Volk and 'entered according to act of Congress in the year 1896 by Hyde and Company in the Office of the Librarian of Congress, at Washington. Published by Hyde and Company in 1896.

CartographerS


Hyde and Company (fl. c. 1880 - 1920) (a.k.a. E. Belcher Hyde Map Company) was a Brooklyn, New York, publisher of maps and atlases. Hyde's work primarily focused on Long Island and the fire insurance industry, which required highly detailed maps of cities and towns in order to assess risk and liability. Many of Hyde's maps offered incredible detail at a large scale, including annotations on property owners, building materials, size, and function. While Long Island was the focus of most of the firm's efforts, it also produced atlases of the greater New York City metropolitan area, including the Bronx, Queens, Manhattan, and Westchester. More by this mapmaker...


The Office of the Coast Survey (1807 - present) founded in 1807 by President Thomas Jefferson and Secretary of Commerce Albert Gallatin, is the oldest scientific organization in the U.S. Federal Government. Jefferson created the "Survey of the Coast," as it was then called, in response to a need for accurate navigational charts of the new nation's coasts and harbors. The spirit of the Coast Survey was defined by its first two superintendents. The first superintendent of the Coast Survey was Swiss immigrant and West Point mathematics professor Ferdinand Hassler. Under the direction of Hassler, from 1816 to 1843, the ideological and scientific foundations for the Coast Survey were established. These included using the most advanced techniques and most sophisticated equipment as well as an unstinting attention to detail. Hassler devised a labor intensive triangulation system whereby the entire coast was divided into a series of enormous triangles. These were in turn subdivided into smaller triangulation units that were then individually surveyed. Employing this exacting technique on such a massive scale had never before been attempted. Consequently, Hassler and the Coast Survey under him developed a reputation for uncompromising dedication to the principles of accuracy and excellence. Unfortunately, despite being a masterful surveyor, Hassler was abrasive and politically unpopular, twice losing congressional funding for the Coast Survey. Nonetheless, Hassler led the Coast Survey until his death in 1843, at which time Alexander Dallas Bache, a great-grandson of Benjamin Franklin, took the helm. Bache was fully dedicated to the principles established by Hassler, but proved more politically astute and successfully lobbied Congress to liberally fund the endeavor. Under the leadership of A. D. Bache, the Coast Survey completed its most important work. Moreover, during his long tenure with the Coast Survey, from 1843 to 1865, Bache was a steadfast advocate of American science and navigation and in fact founded the American Academy of Sciences. Bache was succeeded by Benjamin Pierce who ran the Survey from 1867 to 1874. Pierce was in turn succeeded by Carlile Pollock Patterson who was Superintendent from 1874 to 1881. In 1878, under Patterson's superintendence, the U.S. Coast Survey was reorganized as the U.S. Coast and Geodetic Survey (C & GS) to accommodate topographic as well as nautical surveys. Today the Coast Survey is part of the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration or NOAA as the National Geodetic Survey. Learn More...

Condition


Good. Backed on archival linen. Some discoloration, splitting and loss along original fold lines, especially near center - see image. Restored.