1874 Holmes Map of the Upper East Side, Manhattan, New York City

Description: 1874 Holmes Map of the Upper East Side, Manhattan, New York City WE SELL ONLY ORIGINAL ANTIQUE MAPS - NOT REPRODUCTIONS Title: Map of the Common Lands from 76th to 93rd Street Showing the Old Streets and Plots As Surveyed and Mapped in 1796, by Cassimer T.H. Goerck, City Survey and resurveyed by Isaac T. Ludlam in 1822, (See Notes) And the Distance between these old Streets and our Present Streets. Description: This is a John Bute Holmes 1874 cadastral map of the Upper East Side neighborhood of Manhattan - the only specific map of this area to appear in the 19th century. The map depicts the region from Seventh Avenue (or at least where it would be if Central Park hadn't been built) to Second Avenue and from 93rd Street to 76th Street. The bulk of the map is occupied by the northern reaches of the Common Lands, including the boundary between the Common Lands and the village of Harlem. This boundary was a diagonal line approximately from the intersection of today's Second Avenue and 79th Street to what would be the intersection of 92nd Street and Seventh Avenue, if Central Park had not been constructed. Also evident are the early planning stages of what would become Park Avenue - some of New York city's most covented real estate.Common LandsSettlement on Manhattan Island began at the southern tip, where Battery Park is today. One of the easiest indicators for modern-day visitors is the lack of an organized street-grid in this part of the city. Growth farther north on Manhattan Island was slow, particularly in the 17th and 18th centuries. Then, even when people decided they wanted to live outside of the organized settlement, they elected to purchase land along either the Hudson River or the East River so they could easily travel into the city either by boat along the river or one of the two main roads that traveled north up the island. These roads, the Bloomindale Road (now Broadway), which led up the west side of the island, and the East Post Road, which ran along the island's east side, were built along ancient Native American hunting paths which allowed for easy development. The Common Lands stretched from the intersection of these two roads north in an irregular fashion to Harlem's boundary with the Commons. These two phenomena created a lack of interest in settling the land in the central part of the island. Traveling there was difficult, and the land either consisted of rocky outcroppings or low-lying overgrown marshland. All of this 'vast wasteland' was thus given to the government of New Amsterdam by the Dutch administrators in 1685 and reaffirmed by the English twice after they acquired the colony. Almost no one bought or rented the land from the colony, and it remained that way until the infancy of the United States, when the government of New York City inherited what had become known as the Common Lands. At that time, New York City had little tax income, and so leveraged the Common Lands, which the Common Council, the city's governing body, believed could be developed. They contracted Casimir Theodor Goerck, a city surveyor, to survey the Common Lands and divide it into five acre lots that would then be sold at auction. Goerck, for his part, did the best he could with a massive task. By the December 1785, he had laid out a middle street, a rough estimation of today's Fifth Avenue, but almost none of the lots were of equal size. A handful of lots sold the following summer, but not many, most of which were in the extreme southern reaches of the Common Lands near the established city. In 1794, the Common Council again contracted Goerck to survey five-acre lots, but this time he was to also survey a road parallel to and on either side of the middle road. He was also to survey sixty-six-foot-wide east-west streets to allow for easier access. These roads would closely mirror Fourth and Sixth Avenues in the Commissioners plan of about a decade later, as would the east-west streets, although the Commissioners gave almost no credit to Goerck for the inspiration.Holmes' 'Farm Maps'In the early 19th century most of Manhattan was undeveloped farm lands, the property of wealthy landowners with claims dating to the Dutch period of New York's history. The northern 2/3rd Manhattan was dotted with farm lands and sprawling gentlemanly estates, many with great manor houses overlooking the Hudson River. The Commissioner's Plan of 1811 and the 1807 Commission Law, laid the street grid through many of these properties and gave the city the right to claim these lands under eminent domain, providing due compensation to the landowners. While this work occurred early in lower Manhattan, central and upper Manhattan were not formally acquired by the city until the mid-19th century. Holmes became fascinated by the early history of Manhattan real estate ownership, recognizing the wealth to be accrued by accurately understanding the history of city land ownership, division, and inheritance. Moreover, Holmes allied himself with the corrupt Tweed administration, assuring himself and his allies even greater wealth and political power from the eminent domain seizure of old Manhattan estates. Holmes created a series of maps, reminiscent of John Randall's 'Farm Maps', overlaid with property data, showing the borders of old estates, and notating the breakup of the lands among various heirs. The complex work of compiling the maps earned Holmes a fortune, with one newspaper suggesting on his death in 1887 that some of his individual maps were worth more than 30,000 USD. There is no complete carto-bibliography of Holmes' maps, but we believe there to be at least 50 maps, possibly more.Provenance This map was acquired as a part of a large collection of New York cadastral maps associated with the layer Ronald K. Brown, a Deed Commissioner operating in the late 19th and early 20th century with an office at 76 Nassau Street, New York - not far from Holmes' own office. Most of the maps in the collection, including the present map, bear Brown's stamp on the verso. The maps were passed to Dominic Anthony Trotta, a real estate agent working under Brown. Brown seems to have ceased business around 1919, but Trotta continued as a real estate agent, becoming a New York Tax Commissioner in 1934 under the Fiorello H. La Guardia administration. The maps remained with Trotta's heirs until our acquisition of the collection. Publication History and CensusThis map was created and published by John Bute Holmes in 1874. Three examples are part of institutional collections at Princeton University, the New York State Library, and the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee. Although uncatalogued, we believe that the New York Public Library also has an example. Size: Printed area measures 24.75 inches high by 29 inches wide. Condition: Good. Original linen. Minor wear and some damage along original fold lines. Even overall toning. Shipping: Shipping rates are not negotiable. Items are shipped within three business days of receiving payment. We are happy to consolidate shipping where possible. The following shipping options are available: 1. FedEx Overnight (45 USD). USA Only. Signature Required. 2. FedEx Ground or Home Delivery (15 USD). USA Only. 1 - 10 days. If your address is a P.O. Box and cannot ship FedEx we will ship USPS Priority and, while we ship promptly, recent postal personnel cutbacks mean that delivery may take time. Signature Required. 3. FedEx International or DHL International EXPRESS (45 USD). 4. We can use your FedEx Account. Customs: International buyers are responsible for paying duty and taxes on delivery. DHL or FedEx will contact the buyer by telephone to arrange tax payment if it is levied. Duty varies by country and we cannot predict the amount you will be charged. Some countries are duty free, others are not. Typically, a customs duty and/or VAT tax will be assessed on all parcels to continental Europe. Sometimes duty or tax is due in China, but is seems very random. Hong Kong, Singapore, Korea, and Taiwan have never assessed duty on a map we shipped. Maps shipped to the UK should be duty free as educational materials, but from time to time duty of 5% is assessed incorrectly by the UK customs agents. Insurance: All shipments are insured privately against loss and damage. All of our shipments require a signature for insurance purposes. If you have any questions please feel free to email us through eBay. Other ServicesConservation Framing: Geographicus recommends basic conservation framing services for any antique paper. We do not offer this service. Antique Map Restoration: Geographicus can repair and restore your antique map. Services include deacidification cleaning flattening and backing. BEWARE anyone attempting to contact you, from a different eBay account, claiming to represent Geographicus Antique Maps. My eBay handle is GeographicusMaps. If you are contacted by email by someone offering you my items, please call me directly to be certain you are not dealing with a con artist. "

Price: 4950 USD

Location: Brooklyn, New York

End Time: 2024-12-22T21:36:23.000Z

Shipping Cost: 15 USD