Bird's Eye View of Nashville, Tennessee 1888Step back in time to Nashville at the height of the Gilded Age with this stunning bird's eye view map, masterfully illustrated by renowned cartographer Henry Wellge in 1888. In 1888 Nashville's grid of streets were bustling with commerce, its hillsides dotted with the institutions that earned Nashville its reputation as the "Athens of the South." The map captures an extraordinary moment: Vanderbilt University just over a decade old, Fisk University

from the tree-covered hills in the background to the orderly rows of streets and houses stretching down to the water's edge

the First National Bank of Merced

put down roots in the San Gabriel Valley

and surrounding farmland

was originally published in the January 1931 issue of Country Life magazine

shipbuilding

Beautifully restored map of Watertown

CT from 1876: see the history behind this piece in the KNOWOL library

Massachusetts from 1886

Notable features shown on the map include the Sanford Mills

sailing ships

and the busy waterfront - and the memories that keep neighbors connected to East Boston