1939 Geographia City Map or Plan of Manhattan, New York City

This is a unique c. 1939 Geographia city plan or map of Manhattan, New York City with extensive manuscript annotation relating to the infrastructure and operations of the Pennsylvania Railroad. The map’s coverage includes all of Manhattan, as well as adjacent portions of Jersey City, Brooklyn, and the Bronx. The I.R.T., B.M.T., and Independent subway lines are identified.

Manuscript Railroad Lines

Focusing on the Hudson River, eleven railroad lines and their associated ferry crossings are illustrated in manuscript, including the Pennsylvania Railroad, the New York Central Railroad, and the Delaware, Lackawanna and Western Railroad. Only one of these railroads, the New York Central, was founded in New York City, and only two, the Pennsylvania and the Hudson and Manhattan, had successfully constructed tunnels under the Hudson River to provide direct service into New York City from New Jersey. The Pennsylvania, marked here in solid red lines, completed its North River Tunnels in 1910 and began running service into the newly constructed Penn Station on 34th Street that same year over electrified lines under the river. The Hudson and Manhattan, highlighted by light purple lines, began running passenger service between Hoboken Terminal and 19th Street on February 26, 1908.

All other railroads with terminals along the Hudson, no matter if they were in Jersey City or Hoboken, offered connections between New Jersey and New York City via ferry. These terminals are illustrated along the left side of the map, although not all of them are present. The ferry lines are noted by dashed lines of varying colors to highlight the different routes and piers used by the different railroads. Coincidentally, only two railroads cross the East River into Queens: the Lehigh Valley Railroad and the New York, New Haven and Hartford Railroad, which operated over tracks owned by the Pennsylvania Railroad.

Publication History and Census

This map is most likely one of a kind. While the base map was published by Geographia in 1939 and was commercially available, it was repurposed by the Pennsylvania Railroad to illustrate key infrastructure improvements and assist with the administration of railroad routes and ferries. Examples of the base map are present in a half dozen institutional collections, but we have not located any other known examples of the present map with its extensive depiction of the railroad routes in and around Manhattan.