Antique Map of New Jersey, The Garden State, Rand McNally, 1899

About this sheet

Published by Rand McNally in 1899, this antique map of New Jersey maps the state county by county on page 68 of the indexed atlas, from the Highlands and the Kittatinny ridge down to Cape May, with insets around Camden and Jersey City.

The ridge country of the northwest is drawn in the fine hachured relief the atlas used for mountainous ground, and the map continues through the industrial river counties opposite New York and Philadelphia to the pine barrens and the shore counties facing the Atlantic and Delaware Bay. The two insets in the upper left enlarge the crowded railway country around Camden and Jersey City, each with township detail too dense to show legibly on the main map.

A numbered key running to seventy-eight railroad companies fills most of the lower right quarter, matching a network that by the 1890s was among the most saturated in the country, threading every county from the Manhattan-facing shore at Jersey City and Hoboken down to the Cape May peninsula at the southern tip. A list of the chief cities and towns with their populations runs down the left margin, and county lines are printed in red over pale tints. A note along the foot directs the reader to the adjoining plates for New York, Delaware and Pennsylvania.

The publisher, Rand, McNally and Company of Chicago, began as a printing business founded by William Rand in the 1850s and joined by Andrew McNally. By the time of the 1899 indexed atlas it ranked among the leading American map publishers, known above all for railroad and commercial maps that were revised from one issue to the next.

Technically the sheet is a lithograph with printed colour: the outline was printed in black and the colours were printed over it, so none of the colouring was added by hand. Once framed, this antique map of New Jersey would suit a home or office in the state today, and it will appeal to collectors of American state maps and railroad history.

The sheet is in good condition for its age, with light age toning, a few faint spots in the margins and minor handling wear to the sheet edges. Please review the images for further condition details.

This is an original antique map, not a modern reproduction. This item is sold unframed. Any framed or interior images are shown for presentation and inspiration only, unless the listing explicitly states that the item is sold framed.