1896 Hyde Map of Western Long Island, New York (Brooklyn, Queens, Nassau County)

Early map of western Long Island with property owners.

This is a western section of a four part 1896 map series by E. Belcher Hyde, detailing western Long Island from Brooklyn to Hempstead and Freeport and from Glencove south as far as Jones Inlet, including Brooklyn, Queens and Nassau 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 Sea Cliff, Glen Cove, Garden City, Hempstead, Rockville Center, Freeport, Far Rocakaway, Jamaica, Flushing, Newtown, Brooklyn, North Hempstead, Long Island City, Coney Island, Hempstead and others. Also notes Jmaica Bay, Rockaway Beach, Long Beach etc. Identifies several railway lines, including the Long Island Railroad and the New York Sea Beach 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.   Further Details...

The Office of the Coast Survey (1807 - present), founded in 1807 by President Thomas Jefferson and Secretary of the Treasury 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, to produce accurate navigational charts of the new nation's coasts and harbors. The first two superintendents defined the spirit of the Coast Survey. The Coast Survey's first superintendent was Swiss immigrant and West Point mathematics professor Ferdinand Hassler. Under Hassler's direction, from 1816 to 1843, the Coast Survey established its ideological and scientific foundations. These included the use of the most advanced techniques and most sophisticated equipment, along with unstinting attention to detail. Hassler devised a labor-intensive triangulation system that divided the entire coast into a series of enormous triangles. These were then subdivided into smaller triangulation units, which were individually surveyed. No one had ever attempted this exacting technique on such a massive scale. As a result, Hassler and the Coast Survey under his leadership earned a reputation for uncompromising dedication to accuracy and excellence. Unfortunately, despite being a masterful surveyor, Hassler was abrasive and politically unpopular, and Congress cut funding for the Coast Survey twice. Nonetheless, Hassler led the Coast Survey until his death in 1843, when Alexander Dallas Bache, Benjamin Franklin's great-grandson, took the helm. Bache was fully dedicated to the principles established by Hassler, but proved more politically astute and successfully lobbied Congress to fund the endeavor generously. Under A. D. Bache's leadership, the Coast Survey completed its most important work. During his long tenure with the Coast Survey, from 1843 to 1865, Bache steadfastly advocated American science and navigation and, in fact, founded the American Academy of Sciences. Benjamin Pierce succeeded Bache and ran the Survey from 1867 to 1874. Pierce was succeeded by Carlile Pollock Patterson, 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 (USCGS) to accommodate both topographic and nautical surveys. Today, the Coast Survey is part of the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) as the National Geodetic Survey.   Further Details...

Condition

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