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This detailed 1940 map of Brooklyn, produced under the direction of Alexander Gross and published by Geographia Map Company, offers a comprehensive view of the borough’s streets, transportation network, and geographical features at the dawn of World War II.
The map illustrates Brooklyn’s intricate street grid alongside major transportation infrastructure, including subway lines, elevated trains, and express stations. The red overlay of subway and elevated lines highlights the borough’s transit connectivity in 1940, reflecting the growing reliance on public transportation for commuting and local travel. Subway and elevated stations are marked clearly, offering insight into the primary routes and access points serving the borough at the time. Key lines such as the IRT, BMT, and IND systems are depicted, showing Brooklyn’s integration into the broader New York City subway network. The legend on the right provides a breakdown of these routes, distinguishing between subway and elevated lines and stations.
The lower portion of the map features a comprehensive street index, allowing for easy cross-referencing and navigation. The geographic boundaries include Brooklyn’s waterfront along the Upper Bay and Atlantic Ocean, highlighting important natural features like Jamaica Bay and the Rockaway Inlet. Additionally, the proximity to Staten Island and Manhattan is evident, situating Brooklyn within the greater New York metropolitan area.
Produced at a time when Brooklyn was undergoing significant changes, this map captures the borough at a transitional moment in its history. Post-industrial expansion, increasing population density, and improvements in transportation infrastructure are all reflected here. The borough’s layout includes well-established neighborhoods like Williamsburg, Park Slope, and Bedford-Stuyvesant, as well as growing residential areas in southern Brooklyn.
![[Upper East Side - Manhattan -- 79th Street to 93rd Street] 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 Surveyor and Resurveyed by Isaac T. Ludlam in 1822 (See Notes) And the Distance between those old Streets and our Present Streets Part 4](https://storage.googleapis.com/raremaps/img/small/61033.jpg)
![Southeastern New York [with inset] Vicinity of New York](https://storage.googleapis.com/raremaps/img/small/101125.jpg)
