City Maps

While House Divided has a large collection of maps, I want to highlight some the interesting city maps that are available. You can find maps of cities like Boston, Baltimore, Buffalo, Chicago, Cincinnati, and many more. Be sure to check out the Washington D.C. map since it provides the location of specific buildings, including the “Presidents House” and “War Departments.” These street level maps, which were published during the 1850s, can good resources for teachers to use in the classroom. For example, several city maps are in the Google Earth tour of Henry “Box” Brown’s escape. Students can follow the exact route that Brown took to freedom, from Samuel Smith’s house in Richmond, Virginia to the Vigilance Committee Office in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania.