Map of Rensselaer County, NY 86

Map of Rensselaer County, N.Y. 1861 �

Map of Rensselaer County, NY �86�

Edition of September 2009© Old Maps PO Box 54 West Chesterfield, NH 03466

www.old-maps.com

A complete copy of the 1861 county wall map showing the names and locations of 1000s of houses, businesses, churches and schools.

To find your town, click on the name in the list below

BERLIN BRUNSWICKEAST GREENBUSHGRAFTONGREENBUSH (CITY)HOOSICK

LANSINGBURGH (CITY)LANSINGBURGH (TOWN)NASSAUNORTH GREENBUSHPETERSBURGHPITTSTOWN

POSTENKILLSAND LAKESCHAGHTICOKESCHODACKSTEPHENTOWNTROY

� Map of Rensselaer County, N.Y. 1861 ©2009 Old Maps West Chesterfield, NH 03466 www.old-maps.com

Modern Town Outline Map


1861 Map of Rensselaer County

The original map is a large wall map measuring 66.5” x 64”. The wall map has been “taken apart” for this edition by dividing it into separate images, thus making it easy to use this map for the first time.

� Map of Rensselaer County, N.Y. 1861 ©2009 Old Maps West Chesterfield, NH 03466 www.old-maps.com

An Historical Sketch of The Map

The 1861 Map of Rensselaer County is an important historical document. The map pin-points the names and locations of every resi-dence, workplace, church and school in the rural areas, and depicts every road in Troy, then known as Troy and Lansingburgh.

This map is one of several New York county maps created in the mid 1800s - a period of extraordinary map-making in America. The authors of this map, D. Jackson Lake and Si-las N. Beers, were accomplished mapmakers, having worked on other map projects includ-ing the 1859 Map of the State of New York. The maps listed publisher, “Smith, Gallup and Company” of Philadelphia, is probably a part-nership whose principal was Robert Pearsall Smith - the most prolific mapmaker of the period. Smith was involved with most of the New York county maps of this era, and with those of several other states as well.

Few details of this map’s origins are known, but we do know the general methods used for these projects. Roads were measured with a wheel odometer, similar to the wheelbarrow-like device pictured here, or one drawn by horse and buggy. The surveyor would ask the names of farmstead owners as he passed by, and would surely add a brief sales pitch for the new map... after all, the map would carry

the name of the resident, engraved upon it.

The original road surveys for this privately-pro-duced map were the most comprehensive yet made. This map served as the basis of mapping for decades afterwards.

Publication was announced in local newspapers, and local offices were set up where advance orders for the new map could be taken. A typi-cal mid-1850s price was five dollars per copy. Prominent citizens allowed their names to be used in the map’s advertisements, testifying to the merits of the map, and no doubt assuring it of financial success. Pictures of the homes of prominent citizens were added for a fee. The map was printed on four separate sheets which were assembled and glued together onto a cloth backing. Each copy was then hand-colored in several different hues, varnished, and mount-ed on wooden rollers.

Note on Map SizeThis publication was prepared for use as a computer-based PDF file, formatted as an 14” x 17” booklet. The formatting and sizes of some maps have been adjusted to make the town and village maps easily readable, and on one page if possible. For this reason some maps are presented at different scales. All town maps and pictures are at the original size unless otherwise noted. In these cases a % number indicates the change (e.g. 75% means the printed map will be 25% smaller than the origi-nal). All village inset maps are presented at 120% of the original, unless otherwise noted. This scaling does not effect the map resolution or quality, but comes into play when attempting to print to scale.

need to edit


Table of Contents

Town names listed in all capital letters. Village names listed in upper and lower case letters.

BERLIN Berlin P.O.BRUNSWICKEagle MillsEAST GREENBUSHGRAFTONGREENBUSHGreenbush HOOSICKBuskirk’s Bridge P.O.Hoosick P.O.North Hoosick P.O.HOOSICK FALLSHoosick Falls LANSINGBURGH (CITY)Lansingburgh LANSINGBURGH (TOWN)NASSAUEast Nassau P.O.Hoag’s CornersNassau P.O.NORTH GREENBUSHBathDefreestvilleWynants Kill P.O.PETERSBURGHPetersburgh P.O.

PITTSTOWNJohnsonvillePittstown P.O.Raymartown P.O.Tomhannock P.O.POSTENKILLPostenkill P.O.SAND LAKEGlasshouse P.O.Sand Lake P.O.Slithers CornersWest Sand Lake P.O.SCHAGHTICOKESchaghticoke HillSchaghticoke PointValley FallsSCHODACKEast Schodack P.O.Schodack Landing P.O.STEPHENTOWNMechanicsvilleTROYTroy

G.V.S Quackenbush Dry Goods, Carpet & Oil Cloth WarehouseTroy Female Seminary, Troy NY

Table of Distances

6 Map of Rensselaer County, N.Y. 1861 ©2009 Old Maps West Chesterfield, NH 03466 www.old-maps.com

BERLIN

8 Map of Rensselaer County, N.Y. 1861 ©2009 Old Maps West Chesterfield, NH 03466 www.old-maps.com

BRUNSWICK


Eagle Mills

�0 Map of Rensselaer County, N.Y. 1861 ©2009 Old Maps West Chesterfield, NH 03466 www.old-maps.com

EAST GREENBUSH

Map of Rensselaer County, N.Y. 1861 ��

GRAFTON

�� Map of Rensselaer County, N.Y. 1861 ©2009 Old Maps West Chesterfield, NH 03466 www.old-maps.com

GREENBUSH

150%


Greenbush and Business Directory

100%


HOOSICK and HOOSICK FALLS

80%


Buskirks Bridge PO

Hoosick PO

North Hoosick PO


Hoosick FallsHOOSICK FALLS


LANSINGBURGH


Lansingburgh

75%


NASSAU


East Nassau POHoag’s Corners PO

Nassau PO


NORTH GREENBUSH


Bath

WynantsKill PODefreestville PO


PETERSBURGH


Petersburgh PO


PITTSTOWN

80%


Tomhannock PORaymartown PO

Pittstown CornersJohnsonville


POESTENKILL


Poesten Kill PO


SAND LAKE


Glasshouse Kill PO Sand Lake PO

West Sand Lake POSliters Corners PO


SCHAGHTICOKE

80%


Schaghticoke Hill PO

Schaghticoke Point

Valley Falls PO


SCHODACK


Schodack Landing PO

East Schodack


STEPHENTOWN


Mechanicsville


TROY


50%

City of Troy


Table of Distances


G.V.S. Quackenbush, Dry Goods, Carpet & Oil Cloth Warehouse

Troy Female Seminary

Map of Rensselaer County, NY 86

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