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Plan of New York and its Environs

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Plan of New York and its Environs
This map, Plan de New-York et des environs (Plan of New York and its environs) was published in Paris in 1777. It was based upon initial surveys by engineer John Montrésor in 1775, and further cartographic work by George-Louis Le Rouge in 1777. North is oriented to the upper right. The map shows Lower Manhattan and the early site of New Amsterdam, which served as the Dutch and later the British seat of power in colonial New York. It covers the southern tip of Manhattan, from Greenwich (Village) on the upper left to Crown Point on the lower right. It identifies several still-famous streets, including Broad Way (Broadway) and Bowry Lane (the Bowery). The map highlights batteries, hospitals, barracks, prisons, wharves, colleges, and churches in Lower Manhattan. The places of worship reveal the wide variety of religious affiliations in New York already at this time, including Catholic, Lutheran, Calvinist, Dutch Reformed, Huguenot, Quaker, Jewish, Anabaptist, Presbyterian, and Moravian. An inset at the upper left shows both Inner and Outer New York Harbor, the coast of New Jersey, parts of western Brooklyn, Staten Island, Sandy Hook, and the North (Hudson) and East Rivers. It also shows Governors Island off the tip of Manhattan, where the British royal governors resided before the American Revolution. Governors Island was the site of the first landing of Dutch settlers in 1624, the prelude to the founding of the Dutch colony of New Netherland. Oyster and Corporation Islands (present-day Ellis and Liberty Islands), to the west of Governors Island, became famous in the 19th century as the main gateway for immigrants to America. Hoboken, Paulus Hook (Jersey City), Constable Point, and an extensive Oyster Bank can be seen on the New Jersey side of New York Harbor. Bushwick, Red Hook, Yellow Hook, Gravesend, Utrecht, and Coney Island can be seen on the Brooklyn side. Scale is indicated in feet and miles. The map is from the Rochambeau Collection at the Library of Congress, which consists of 40 manuscript maps, 26 printed maps, and a manuscript atlas that belonged to Jean-Baptiste-Donatien de Vimeur, comte de Rochambeau (1725‒1807), commander in chief of the French expeditionary army (1780‒82) during the American Revolution. Some of the maps were used by Rochambeau during the war. Dating from 1717 to 1795, the maps cover much of eastern North America, from Newfoundland and Labrador in the north to Haiti in the south. The collection includes maps of cities, maps showing Revolutionary War battles and military campaigns, and early state maps from the 1790s.

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