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The natives can speak probably better than I can, but if you look at
an early map of Boston you will see how little of it there is and
what there was didn't really lend itself to much of a grid. Then it
was a question of adding streets when parts were filled in.
There is a wonderful book on this called Gaining Ground: A History of
Landmaking in Boston
Believe it or not once you know when things were filled in, it
actually makes some sense! ;-)
Even to someone from the Euclidean planes of Midwest, where if it
doesn't sit square with the world, it just ain't right! ;-)
This is a MapHist list message (when you hit 'reply' you're replying
to the whole list)
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The NYC grid would seem to be something of a johnny-come-lately
on the urban scene. Philadelphia's grid system existed before much
was built. Of course, it is always easier to impose a grid on
relatively flat land. Boston seems to have just grown along
existing paths and trails for much of its area. Savannah is another
early grid. NYC imposed a grid and changed the topography to fit
the plan in a large measure. "Grided Cities" might make an
interesting exhibit. A title might be "Grid Up Your Lanes."
JBP
-----Original Message-----
From: [email protected] [mailto:[email protected]]
On Behalf Of Joel Kovarsky
Sent: Monday, March 21, 2011 8:25 AM
To: MapHist
Subject: [MapHist] How Manhattan's Grid Grew
In this morning's NY Times there is an interactive set of maps that
begins with Randel's 1811 Commissioners' Plan:
<http://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2011/03/21/nyregion/map-of-how-manhattan-grid-grew.html?hp><http://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2011/03/21/nyregion/map-of-how-manhattan-grid-grew.html?hp>
. There is an accompanying article "200th Birthday for the Map That
Made New York":
<http://www.nytimes.com/2011/03/21/nyregion/21grid.html?_r=1&ref=nyregion><http://www.nytimes.com/2011/03/21/nyregion/21grid.html?_r=1&ref=nyregion>.
Joel Kovarsky
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MapHist: E-mail discussion group on the history of cartography
hosted by the Faculty of Geosciences, University of Utrecht.
The statements and opinions expressed in this message are those of
the author and do not necessarily reflect those of the University of
Utrecht. The University of Utrecht does not take any responsibility for
the views of the author.
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