Louisiana in 1877 - New Orleans, Baton Rouge, Shreveport

This plan of New Orleans was published by Samuel Augustus Mitchell Jr. of Philadelphia in 1877 as part of his Mitchell's New General Atlas, a major reference work that paired maps of the world's countries with detailed plans of individual cities and a supplementary list of United States post offices. Mitchell's firm favored a decorative floral border around its city plans, and this sheet is fully colored with north oriented toward the upper right rather than straight up, an unusual layout choice among the atlas's otherwise conventionally oriented maps. It covers New Orleans, Louisiana, a city whose economy in the years following Reconstruction remained built almost entirely around its position as the Mississippi River's principal Gulf port.

The city's wards are individually color-coded across the sheet, marking out the political precincts New Orleans used for local governance in the 1870s. The Mississippi River is drawn curving prominently through the map, its bold line reflecting the waterway's central role in the city's trade and geography. Several canals are recorded threading through the city, a reminder of how much of New Orleans's low-lying street grid depended on managed drainage and water routes. A compass rose in the upper corner orients the unusual layout. Together the wards, river, and canals sketch a port city whose entire urban form was dictated by water.

It's a fitting gift for a New Orleans or Louisiana family, a collector of Gulf Coast port cities, or anyone marking a move to or from the Crescent City. Even the map's unusual orientation, with north set toward the upper right rather than straight up, makes it a distinctive addition next to more conventionally laid-out 19th-century city plans in a collection. It's available unframed in a full range of sizes, from a compact study print to a larger statement piece.