1869 Bird's Eye View Map
Last updated 05 Aug 2015
Bird's eye view of the city of Washington, Washington County Iowa 1869. Drawn by August Koch, the Chicago Lithographing Company, S. Clark St, Chicago.
Points of interest are indicated and include: 1 Baptist Church; 2 Covenanter Church; 3 Methodist Church; 4 Congregational Church; 5 Catholic Church; 6 Associate Presbyterian Church; 7 United Presbyterian Church; 8 Second United Presbyterian Church; 9 Presbyterian Church; 10 Colored Church; 11 Public School; 12 District School; 13 Court House; 14 Bryson House; 15 Iowa House; 16 Wool Mill; 17 Sanford & Son’s Livery; 18 Bacon’s Livery; 19 Kilgore’s Foundry; 20 Elevator; 21 Hale’s Mills; 22 Brewery; 23 Cemetery,
Click on the map to enlarge.
Origins of the the bird's eye view map
Source: Library of Congress
A popular cartographic form used to depict U.S. and Canadian cities and towns during the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries was the panoramic map. Known also as bird’s-eye views, perspective maps, panoramas, and aero views, panoramic maps are non-photographic representations of cities, portrayed as if viewed from above at an oblique angle. Although not generally drawn to scale, they show street patterns, individual buildings, and major landscape features in perspective.
Preparation of panoramic maps involved a vast amount of painstakingly detailed labor. For each project a frame or projection was developed, showing in perspective the pattern of streets. The artist then walked in the street, sketching buildings, trees, and other features to present a complete and accurate landscape as though seen from an elevation of 2,000 to 3,000 feet. These data were entered on the frame in his workroom.