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10 amazing vintage maps from the New York Public Library's Digital Collection

Will Gleason
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Will Gleason
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The New York Public Library just made over 180,000 of its public domain images available for high-resolution download this Wednesday. If you have some time to spare, it's definitely worth poking around the archives. All the images on the site are free to share and reuse, and you can find fascinating old menus, historical photos, documents, illustrations and more.

Below, check out ten antique maps from the database that provide interesting peeks into New York City history from 1639 to 1940. From the original plans for Fort Greene to a map of the types of industry in the city during the 1920s, each one is a pretty fascinating look at a changing metropolis.

1. Vingboons map of Manhattan, 1639: a facsimile from the Library of Congress

2. Map of the progress of His Majesty's armies in New York during the late campaign: illustrating the accounts publish'd in the London Gazette (1776)

3. Map of New York l: with the adjacent rocks and other remarkable parts of Hell-Gate (1778)

4. The Great metropolis in 1804

5. Green-wood cemetery (1846) 

6. Map of the City of Williamsburg with part of Greenpoint (1852)

7. Design for Laying out the Grounds Known as Fort Green or Washington Park, in the City of Brooklyn (1867)

8. Auction Sale of the Est. of Lewis Gouverneur Morris at Morris Heights, Bronx Borough NYC... 175 Lots (1910)

9. Map of the New York world's fair and approaches (1939)

10. Industrial map of New York City : showing manufacturing industries, concentration, distribution, character

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