Plan of Danbury, Fairfield County
PublisherPublished by
Unknown
Dateabout 1895
MediumLithography; printer's ink and watercolor on wove paper
DimensionsPrimary Dimensions (image height x width): 30 3/4 x 20 1/4in. (78.1 x 51.4cm)
Sheet (height x width): 33 x 22in. (83.8 x 55.9cm)
ClassificationsGraphics
Credit LineMuseum purchase
Object number1946.19.1
DescriptionMap of Danbury, Connecticut showing the central business district. Streets are identified and property lines, footprints of buildings, and owners' names are shown. Railroads include the Danbury and Norwalk Railroad and the New York and Northern Housatonic Railroad. The passenger depot, coal sheds, wood sheds, and other railroad buildings cluster along the railroad tracks. Bodies of water include White's Pond, North Meadow Brook, Blind Brook, and the Still River. Cemeteries, including Wooster Cemetery, are shown in green. Schools, churches, and parsonages are identified. A detailed "Business Advertising Directory" below the map lists hotels, banks, newspapers, insurance agents, attorneys, physicians, druggists, dentists, photographers, merchants, grocers, manufacturers, undertakers, nurserymen, livery stables, saloons, confectioners, carpenters and builders, masons, blacksmiths, and "miscellaneous." An arrow at upper right points north. The map is surrounded by a decorative border.
Label TextDanbury is dominated by the hat industry in this map, which appears to date from the mid-1890s. No less than twenty businesses directly related to hats are listed in the directory at the bottom. These include not only hat manufacturers, but also companies that manufactured hat-making machinery and hat boxes. Still other hatters, hat formers, and hat finishers are listed separated under "Miscellaneous." Danbury was known as the hat making capital of the world in the late nineteenth century and at one point produced over five million hats per year. The city otherwise appears as a pleasant place, with broad streets, many schools and churches, and an attractive rural cemetery with winding roads in the northeast part of twon.
NotesCartographic Note: 1 inch equals twenty-five rodsDate Note: The map is undated. Checking the business names against those in Danbury city directories suggests a date in the mid-1890s.
Status
Not on view
