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A map of Boston and vicinity
By adamg on Sat, 07/01/2023 - 11:48am
The Library of Congress has this map by Oliver Herford, possibly dating to 1919, in its collection.
Of course, it's not the only map showing the Hub of the Universe's proper position in the world. Take, for example, Daniel Wallingford's A Bostonian's Idea of the United States of America:
Neighborhoods:
Topics:
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Comments
The way Boston thinks of
The way Boston thinks of itself to this day.
He also
wisely labeled "North Atlantic" and "South Atlantic". People always get those mixed up.
To quote Miss Charlotte Vale
"Well, the world is a small place, but Boston is a big one."
Love the bottom map, too
Predating the famous The New Yorker cover by a few decades.
Map
It's hilarious if you look at it more closely, too! Lots of cities are in the wrong place, like Denver is just above San Francisco. Because whatever, they're not Boston and they're somewhere between here and the Pacific Ocean!
I read that one Bostonien, in the 1800's, was asked what rout they took from Boston to California. They replied that they had come "via Dedham."
Exactly
The list of cities under Western Prairies: Dayton, Kansas City, Toledo, Helena, Tulsa, Indianapolis, Milwaukee and other such cities are located in this territory.
And then there's the inset at the lower right detailing a variety of Newton's villages and areas of Wellesley as part of "Important cities and towns not shown on general map due to lack of space".
Notable for what's not labelled, too
Hoboken is on the map, but a very large city just across the river from it is not.
Other such cities
I love the "other such cities" part! Kind of a old-school way to say "flyover country."
I had never heard that
I had never heard that version of the joke.
The one I know is one Brahmin lady telling another about her family's recent motoring trip from Boston to NYC.
"Which route did you take?"
"The southerly route, by way of Dedham."
That's probably the correct
That's probably the correct version! And true, too,by the way. I read about it in the book "The Proper Bostonians," by Cleveland Amory, a member of one of those "First Families." It's a very entertaining book. He has both respect for and a sense of humor about the Boston Brahmins.
There's also an anecdote about Isabella Stewart Gardner correcting someone's pronounciation of "Iowa." In Boston it's prounouced "Ohio!"
continental shelf
i'm impressed they had a good idea of the continental shelf under the coast line in 1919.
Continental shelf
That knowledge was helpful for laying transoceanic cables even for telegraphy in the 19th century.