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Detailed early map of Brooklyn, Lithographed by A. Brown & Co.

This is an extremely rare example of William G. Bishop's pocket map of the City of Brooklyn, produced during a period of rapid urban growth and transformation.

In the mid-19th century, the advent of steam ferries revolutionized transportation across the East River, making it easier for both wealthy and working-class individuals to move from overcrowded Manhattan to the more suburban areas of Kings County, now known as Brooklyn. The communities of Brooklyn, Greenpoint, Bushwick, and Williamsburg were officially consolidated into a single city by the New York State legislature in 1855, a pivotal moment that marked the rise of Brooklyn as a major urban center. By 1865, Brooklyn had become the third largest city in the United States, following New York City and Philadelphia, and the map reflects the city in the midst of this incredible development. 

This map highlights the newly developed street grid system of Brooklyn, modeled after Manhattan’s grid, with great attention to detail. Important areas like Prospect Park, which had recently been laid out by the landscape architect Frederick Law Olmsted, and Greenwood Cemetery, shown with internal detailing, reflect the city’s focus on public spaces. Other public buildings and lands, such as the Lunatic Asylum, the Marine Hospital, the Navy Yard, and the Military Parade Grounds, are prominently marked, indicating the city’s expanding civic infrastructure. Bridges, ferry crossings, train lines, and plank roads—which were critical transportation arteries—are noted, underscoring the critical connectivity of Brooklyn with neighboring regions, particularly Manhattan, shown in the lower left-hand corner.

One of the most distinctive features of this map is its decorative vine-and-leaf border, which enhances the aesthetic quality of what was likely designed as a functional document. This particular example, drawn by A. Brown of 47 Nassau Street, New York, was included in William G. Bishop's rare Manual of  the Common Council of the City of Brooklyn.

The map provides a glimpse of Brooklyn at a time when it was transitioning from a series of separate villages into a major urban metropolis. The 1855 consolidation had marked the end of “Kings County” as a widely used term, replaced by the modern identification of the area simply as Brooklyn. This map reflects the consequences of that consolidation, showing how neighborhoods once considered separate entities, such as Greenpoint, Bushwick, and Williamsburg, became part of a cohesive urban fabric. 

Cartographically, this map builds upon the earlier 1846 survey of Brooklyn prepared by Richard Butt and draws from earlier variants of the Brown map used in McCloskey’s Brooklyn Manual. The 1869 map, however, expanded on these earlier works by incorporating updated details reflective of the city's rapid growth and infrastructural changes.