Welcome to Vintage City Maps
Birdseye view maps – also known as panoramic maps, pictorial, or aerial view maps – are where art, geography, and history combine to celebrate a lost art form. Vintage City Maps is dedicated to bringing these works of art back to life.
What are birdseye view maps? During the period of 1850-1910 over 1,700 of these maps of cities and towns throughout the United States and Canada were drawn by mapping artists who walked the streets of these cities, sketching buildings, trees, streets, railroads, and surrounding terrain. They would then draw a large pen and ink perspective map from a perceived altitude of 2,000 feet or higher, utilizing their sketches and a lot of imagination. These maps are amazing works of art and many are in color, but unfortunately most of these maps were not stored correctly and over the last 125 years or so had become torn, faded, creased, discolored, and stained. Many are virtually unrecognizable. Although copies of the maps in their deteriorated state can be purchased from a variety of sources as “authentic”, this collection is the only source for maps that have been painstakingly remastered and repaired by professional graphic designers, led by Hal Weiner in Austin, Texas, with the goal of restoring them to their original look, and at an affordable price. These maps have tremendous artistic, educational, and historic value…and make great collector's items and gifts.
The collection currently consists of over 1,250 maps including a few cities in Canada, Mexico, and Europe, and more are in production. Let us know if you don't see what you're looking for.
The maps are very clear, high-resolution, and printed on high-quality archival paper in two different sizes; regular sizes are about 24 x 36 inches, and the large sizes are around 36 x 54 inches, depending on the map format. The regular size maps are shipped unframed by USPS within 3 business days, and the large sizes ship in about a week. Many of the maps will fit standard-sized frames available from your local retailer.
Questions? Contact us at vintagecitymaps@gmail.com