A Different World
The British Colonies that would become the United States and the colony of Pennsylvania were very different 250 years ago. Most people lived in rural areas and the overall population was a fraction of the population of the United States today. Travel between colonies was difficult as roads were primitive and largely composed of dirt and most buildings in the cities were not very tall (less than 5 storeys), unlike the skyscrapers of today. The maps and images here can be used to get a sense of what colonial America looked like and the extent of settlement of the Thirteen British Colonies including Pennsylvania. Maps come in all sorts of scales and in what they represent. Some show the entire colonies, some show Pennsylvania and others show the city of Philadelphia. Maps, created by people called cartographers, often show natural and man-made landscape features such as mountains, rivers, lakes, oceans, roads, cities, towns, etc. as well as artificial political boundaries such as colonies (now called states), counties and townships, and countries. These features are often represented by symbols, text, or colors. Maps often have a section on them called a cartouche that gives information such as scale, what certain symbols represent, the cartographer, title of map, printer, and year of publication. Look at some of the cartouches of the maps you see here and note what you discover.
18th century view near York, PA showing primitive dirt roads and the rural landscape. View of the City of Boston - from the Universal Magazine, March 1775
Selected holdings of the State Library of Pennsylvania pertaining to maps, images, and changing landscapes have been digitized as part of the America250 project, and are freely available by clicking the button below.
A Different World
The British Colonies that would become the United States and the colony of Pennsylvania were very different 250 years ago. Most people lived in rural areas and the overall population was a fraction of the population of the United States today. Travel between colonies was difficult as roads were primitive and largely composed of dirt and most buildings in the cities were not very tall (less than 5 storeys), unlike the skyscrapers of today. The maps and images here can be used to get a sense of what colonial America looked like and the extent of settlement of the Thirteen British Colonies including Pennsylvania. Maps come in all sorts of scales and in what they represent. Some show the entire colonies, some show Pennsylvania and others show the city of Philadelphia. Maps, created by people called cartographers, often show natural and man-made landscape features such as mountains, rivers, lakes, oceans, roads, cities, towns, etc. as well as artificial political boundaries such as colonies (now called states), counties and townships, and countries. These features are often represented by symbols, text, or colors. Maps often have a section on them called a cartouche that gives information such as scale, what certain symbols represent, the cartographer, title of map, printer, and year of publication. Look at some of the cartouches of the maps you see here and note what you discover.
18th century view near York, PA showing primitive dirt roads and the rural landscape. View of the City of Boston - from the Universal Magazine, March 1775
Selected holdings of the State Library of Pennsylvania pertaining to maps, images, and changing landscapes have been digitized as part of the America250 project, and are freely available by clicking the button below.
