New Jersey in 1883 - Trenton, Newark, Jersey City

This Railroad and County Map of New Jersey is a map from Cram's Unrivaled Family Atlas of the World, copyrighted 1883 by George Franklin Cram and published in Chicago by A.C. Shewey and Co. It belongs to the first edition of Cram's first "mass production" world atlas, sixty-five maps aimed at bringing detailed, current geography into everyday American households.

Set at a notably close scale of about 1:679,000, likely printed by lithography, the sheet devotes itself to New Jersey's county divisions and its railroad network, marked with solid lines connecting towns and cities across the state. Relief is indicated through hachures, and the title sits in an ornate cartouche in the lower right corner, a decorative flourish typical of atlas maps from this period. Jersey City, directly across the Hudson from Manhattan, had grown into one of the country's busiest rail terminals by 1883, the last stop for freight and passengers before the ferry crossing into New York City. Both Greenwich and Washington prime meridians are noted along the borders.

This print suits anyone with New Jersey roots, a family that worked the rail lines shown here, a transplant who left the Garden State, or a collector building a run of Cram's 1883 atlas maps. It also makes a fitting housewarming, birthday, or anniversary gift. Every print ships unframed and comes in multiple sizes.