Online Interactive Mapping: Using the Panoramic Maps Collection

Remember where the train station used to be? Turn left at that corner. Often, when giving directions, we assume familiarity with historical landscapes. We expect that the listener can adjust layers of mental from the past and present to imagine a specific location. By developing students' knowledge of historical landscapes, we deepen their abilities to understand our changing physical and social geography. Our students will help plan and build the landscapes of the future.They need to value and understand the land's past if they are to create socially and environmentally sustainable communities. Many state curricula require the teaching of local history in elementary and middle grades. We would like to introduce teachers to a wonderful online resource for displaying images of local communities as they may have looked more than 100 years ago. We also suggest ways to analyze changes to the landscape by comparing these historical maps with current cartographic images. By comparing images at MapQuest with those at the Panoramic Maps Collection at a Library of Congress website, students are moving to higher analytical skills beyond simple location and magnification. When students look at landscapes around them and ask, Why is that there? they must use critical and analytical thinking skills to evaluate spatial information. History, geography, science, math, and language arts are all used to understand and interpret the information presented in these maps. Panoramic Maps Collection From the late 1840s until the early 1900s, artists drew bird's-eye view landscapes of hundreds of American cities and towns. These popular provide a detailed, if somewhat idealized, image of American communities from a past era. As the nation grew and aerial photography became possible, these maps were no longer fashionable, but today they are a teaching treasure. A map of your community (or at least one from your state) may well be in the Panoramic Map Collection, 1847-1929. landscapes were drawn as if viewed from a hot air balloon, which was the only aerial transport until 1903. Most of the research for the maps, however, was done on foot and with the use of existing maps. drawings were painstakingly rendered and made into lithographs for mass production and sales. Five artists produced most of the maps in this collection. Local chambers of commerce often funded these panoramic maps, with specific businesses paying for a featured image in the map's border art. Wealthy individuals, whose mansions might be shown in a detailed inset, underwrote some of the maps. Real estate agents and chambers of commerce used the maps with prospective buyers of homes and business properties. Some maps showed not only the existing city, but areas planned for development. People would hang framed panoramic maps of their towns prominently in their homes. In the collection, there are maps from each of the 48 contiguous states, some of which have only one map (Arizona, Delaware, and Idaho) while others have hundreds (Pennsylvania has 208). There are also maps of communities in the Canadian provinces. New York and Pennsylvania were the two most populous states between the years 1870 and 1890. Pennsylvania was a central rail hub, and many travelers passing through might have wanted a souvenir of their visit--a panoramic map! activity described below involves maps of Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, from different decades in the 1800s. Teachers may also visit The Learning Page at the Library of Congress to glean other teaching suggestions for exploiting the Panoramic Maps Collection, at memory.loc.gov/ ammem/ndlpedu/collections/pmap/. Today, the fine details on these maps can be enjoyed online. Students can zoom into a map to locate streets, neighborhoods, and specific physical features. If there is a map of your city or town, it will be fun to search for familiar places to see how they appeared more than 100 years ago. …

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