This interactive map will leave nostalgia junkies foaming from the mouth. Drawn by Joseph Colton and taken from David Rumsey's collection of maps, it allows you to scroll over any section of New York City and see what it looked like back 1836. Rumsey told Smithsonian magazine that it's one of his favorite maps. “There’s a historian named Stokes who wrote six volumes on the history of Manhattan, and he called this map perhaps one of the most beautiful maps of Manhattan in the 19th century. It’s artistically quite amazing," he said.
Rumsey added that the bulk of present-day Manhattan wasn't yet established back in the day, calling the majority of everything past 14th Street "country." This is one of many maps noted by the Smithsonian that looks at how cities have evolved over time.
[via io9]
