Old Map of Manhattan, New York by USGS, 1898 – Harlem, Upper East Side & Upper West Side

Published in 1898 by the U.S. Geological Survey, “Harlem” presents northern Manhattan and its neighboring waters and settlements at the revealing scale of 1:62,500. The map captures a pivotal moment in New York’s history, when the island above Midtown still retained visible traces of ridges, shorelines, creeks, and open ground soon to be transformed by rapid urban expansion. Manhattan’s Upper East Side and Upper West Side appear in relation to Harlem, the East River, the Hudson River, and the broader metropolitan edge. More than a city plan, this is a topographical portrait: contour lines, watercourses, and carefully differentiated terrain show the physical foundations beneath the future grid of apartment houses, avenues, bridges, parks, and civic infrastructure.

The U.S. Geological Survey brought to this map the scientific clarity for which its late nineteenth-century work became renowned. Established in 1879, the USGS undertook the systematic mapping of American landscapes with a precision that served engineers, planners, geologists, military users, and the public alike. In “Harlem,” that disciplined approach is evident in the crisp contouring of hills, the legible treatment of rivers and shorelines, and the balanced use of color to distinguish land, water, and elevation. Such maps were not decorative fantasies but instruments of knowledge, translating a complex urban-natural environment into a coherent visual language. Their appeal today lies partly in that union of authority and beauty: exacting measurement rendered with restrained cartographic elegance.

Harlem itself occupies a fascinating position on the map, poised between rural memory and metropolitan destiny. By 1898, elevated railways, street improvements, and annexation-era ambitions were drawing northern Manhattan ever more tightly into the life of New York City. The neighborhood would soon become one of the most culturally significant urban districts in America, especially during the Harlem Renaissance of the early twentieth century, yet this map records an earlier geography of heights, waterways, and transitional development. Nearby, the Upper West Side and Upper East Side were entering periods of dramatic change, their identities shaped by transport, real estate speculation, institutions, and proximity to Central Park. The map preserves the landscape just before these neighborhoods assumed their modern density and social character.

The surrounding waterways give the sheet much of its historical drama. The Hudson River forms Manhattan’s western edge, while the East River and Harlem River define the island’s eastern and northern boundaries, emphasizing New York’s identity as an archipelagic city. Spuyten Duyvil Creek and the Little Harlem River recall a more intricate tidal landscape, where channels, marshy margins, and strategic crossings mattered deeply to movement and settlement. Across the water appear Fort Lee, Yonkers, the Bronx, and Pelham Bay Park, situating Manhattan within a broader regional geography rather than as an isolated urban core. These names evoke ferries, rail lines, military memory, suburban growth, and the gradual knitting together of communities around the great harbor and its rivers.

The topographic detail is especially compelling in areas such as Inwood Hill and the northern heights, where the contours reveal a rugged Manhattan often obscured by later urbanization. Inwood Hill Park, the bluffs near the Hudson, and the broken ground around Harlem and the Bronx show that New York’s development unfolded over a varied and resistant terrain. Corlear’s Hook, far to the south and east, hints at the older waterfront city of shipping, industry, and immigrant neighborhoods. Read as a historical document, “Harlem” records more than streets and place names: it shows the natural stage upon which modern New York was built. Its hills, rivers, creeks, and shorelines make visible the city before twentieth-century ambition reshaped nearly every edge.

Cities, towns and places on this map

• Manhattan
• Harlem
• Upper East Side
• Upper West Side
• East River
• Hudson River
• Inwood Hill Park
• Little Harlem River
• Harlem River
• Spuyten Duyvil Creek
• Fort Lee
• Yonkers
• Pelham Bay Park
• Bronx
• Corlear's Hook

Historical context & cartographic details

• Published in 1898 by the U.S. Geological Survey.
• Historical 1:62,500 topographical map of New York and the surrounding area.
• Shows Manhattan shortly before major urban development and demographic change in the 20th century.
• Features clear contour lines representing elevation changes, typical of USGS topographic mapping.
• Uses color to enhance the visual representation of terrain.
• Includes hills, waterways, elevation shading, and landform detail.
• Serves as an important historical record of the area’s late 19th-century geography and urban development.

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With its rich detail and strong sense of place, this map makes a considered gift for a new home, anniversary, retirement or anyone with a personal connection to the area shown. Still deciding? Explore our collection of rare old and vintage maps to discover another place, period or style.