NYC Neighborhood Maps from the New York Public Library

One of our favorite go-to-gifts is a historical New York City neighborhood map from the New York Public Library...

The New York Public Library’s Map Division has one of the largest public map collections in the world, and a good percentage of those maps are available for purchase. You can even order the maps framed. Our favorites are the New York City “fire insurance maps” which depict streets, tax lots, and current use classifications. We even bought an 1886 map of our Brooklyn neighborhood for ourselves.

If you can’t find a map of your neighborhood online, go into the main Library on 5th Avenue and 42nd Street (go to the Map Division) or send an email (mapref@nypl.org) and the librarians will help with the searching. Oh, and the best part, you’re helping out New York City’s public libraries.

Comments (4)

Great post!! I will definitely look into this for my neighborhood :)

posted by suziegoombs on September 22nd 2008 at 10:08am
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I love fire insurance maps! I was slightly obsessed with the St. Louis ones when I was going to school there.

posted by hessilou on September 22nd 2008 at 10:52am
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Our co-op is in the process of getting prints of our neighborhood (the Lower East Side of Manhattan) from the New York Public Library. The aim is to hang the framed prints on the walls of the hallways and lobbies. They'll look beautiful AND will hopefully brighten the mood of our fellow residents.

posted by *heather leaf* on September 22nd 2008 at 11:06am
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wow!
thanks for the tip, these are awesome!

I'm ordering a print of my hood straight away!

posted by Shilo on September 22nd 2008 at 6:53pm
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