census + map = insight

I've mentioned that I am very visually oriented, and also (what is probably obvious without me pointing it out again) I have more than a small dose of OCD. Which means I can't let things go until I'm satisfied.  So the research I do for my novels is painstaking. And also, to me at least, tremendously interesting. I always find the best possible maps for the location that I'm writing about. For The Guided Hour I found maybe a dozen maps published between 1880 and 1885, but only one of those really suits my purpose, so that while I'll consult many different maps, one becomes my source map.  The map I'm using was published in 1885, which means that it was most likely compiled over 1883-84.  Manhattan is divided into twenty-four plates (at the top of this post is a small detail from Plate 5, with my annotations). An example of a supplementary map is the Sanitary Map and Social Chart of the Fourth Ward of the City of New York, which accompanies a detailed report of the living conditions. Report of the 4th Sanitary Inspection District made to the Council of Hygiene of the Citizen's Association by E.R. Pulling, M.D., assisted by F. J. Randall. Report of the Council of Hygiene and Public Health of the Citizens' Association of the New York Upon the Sanitary Condition of the City, second edition. New York: D. Appleton & Co., 1866. This map is far too early for a novel set in 1883, but it is very useful anyway. It helped me understand the real conditions in the tenements by providing actual data.  To be clear, it wasn't the map so much as the website put together […]