{"title":"Berk \u0026 Wright Collection","description":"","products":[{"product_id":"13101","title":"1910 George Eddy Newcomb’s Map Showing the City of Chicago in Relation to Its North Shore Suburbs and Especially Madison Street as a Great Central Highway","description":"\u003cp\u003e\u003cstrong\u003eBy: \u003c\/strong\u003eGeorge Eddy Newcomb\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cstrong\u003eDate:\u003c\/strong\u003e 1910 (dated) Chicago\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cstrong\u003eDimensions: \u003c\/strong\u003e27 x 16 inches\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eThis rare pair of early 20th-century planning maps by George Eddy Newcomb captures Chicago at a critical stage of urban expansion and civic ambition. Found in only a few institutional collections, both maps illustrate the city of Chicago in relation to its rapidly growing North Shore suburbs, with a particular emphasis on Madison Street as a central east–west axis and Ashland Avenue as a potential north–south thoroughfare.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003ch4\u003eThe Larger Map\u003c\/h4\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eThe larger map presents Chicago’s full grid system extending from the downtown Loop through its developing suburban communities. It traces the city’s layout from the urban core to lakefront suburbs such as Wilmette, Winnetka, Highland Park, and Lake Forest. Notable features include the old Indian Boundary Lines of 1819, the Chicago River, the “Drainage Canal,” railways, township ranges, and subdivided land parcels in Chicago’s characteristic grid format. Madison Street is highlighted for its dual importance as a primary east–west corridor and as the baseline dividing Chicago’s north and south address system.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eProduced in 1910, the map embodies a pivotal era of civic planning. Chicago was experiencing rapid suburbanization along the North Shore, fueled by commuter rail and streetcar expansion that connected residential areas to downtown. Madison Street and other key routes were at the heart of this transformation, symbolizing the city’s drive toward structured, grid-based growth.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003ch4\u003eThe Smaller Promotional Edition\u003c\/h4\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eThe smaller companion map, issued the same year, is a reduced version designed for advocacy and distribution. While retaining the essential geographic framework of the larger map, this edition incorporates printed text urging the construction of a “straight street railway extending from Evanston to Englewood along Ashland Avenue, through the Great West Side.” Newcomb’s annotations, including the emphatic “LOOK AT THE MAP!” and explanatory notes, transform the piece into a persuasive visual argument for civic reform and transportation modernization.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eThis version was likely distributed at planning meetings, civic forums, or among developers and local officials. It served as both a promotional tool and a manifesto, illustrating Newcomb’s belief that Chicago’s growth must extend beyond its congested downtown “Loop” to a decentralized, efficiently connected urban corridor.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003ch4\u003eCivic Vision and Legacy\u003c\/h4\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eTogether, these two maps reflect George Eddy Newcomb’s deep engagement with early 20th-century urban planning. His proposals anticipated the logic of later comprehensive plans that sought to unify Chicago’s neighborhoods and suburbs through rational infrastructure. Archival records from the Chicago Plan Commission mention Newcomb’s 1911 document Chicago Replanned, suggesting his active role in shaping contemporary planning debates.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eViewed as a set, the maps offer both a technical visualization of Chicago’s urban framework and a rare artifact of civic advocacy, uniting the precision of a planner’s survey with the persuasive energy of a reformer’s campaign.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cstrong\u003eCondition: \u003c\/strong\u003eMap is in very fine condition, folded as issued but rests mostly flat with some marginal tears that have been reinforced on the verso with archival tape.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eInventory #13101\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"New World Cartographic","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":42450986500157,"sku":"13101","price":2400.0,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0390\/9705\/files\/13101ab.jpg?v=1760383668"},{"product_id":"13100","title":"1921 Ward Map of the City of Chicago","description":"\u003cp\u003e\u003cstrong\u003eBy: \u003c\/strong\u003eAnonymous\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cstrong\u003eDate:\u003c\/strong\u003e 1921 (dated) Chicago\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cstrong\u003eDimensions:\u003c\/strong\u003e 27 x 16 inches\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eThis important “Ward Map of the City of Chicago” marks the historic moment when the city officially adopted its now long-standing 50-ward structure, replacing the previous 35-ward system. Passed by the City Council on July 22, 1921, this map captures a pivotal shift in municipal governance, reflecting Chicago’s rapid expansion and the growing demand for equitable political representation.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eThis map delineates the city’s fifty aldermanic wards as approved by the City Council on July 22, 1921. Issued by the Board of Election Commissioners and signed by Chief Clerk Geo. F. Rochman and Cook County Judge Frank S. Righeimer, the map outlines each ward’s boundaries in clear, block-style form, showing street names, Lake Michigan’s shoreline contours, and key geographic features like Lake Calumet and Wolf Lake.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eThe map presents the city’s post-Fire expansion through early 20th century annexations and urban growth, capturing a moment just before the 1931 redistricting that would finalize Chicago's modern shape. Its fifty-ward system would soon become the enduring structure governing aldermanic representation for the city. As a product of the election authorities, the map was essential for administering municipal elections, ward-based governance, and planning in an era of rapid demographic and infrastructural change.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cstrong\u003eCondition: \u003c\/strong\u003eMap is in very fine condition issued folding, now mostly flat with dark printing on clean paper and full margins.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eInventory #13100\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"New World Cartographic","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":42451078578237,"sku":"13100","price":400.0,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0390\/9705\/files\/13100a.jpg?v=1751576688"},{"product_id":"13113","title":"1923 Ross \u0026 Co. Real Estate Railway Exchange Map of Chicago","description":"\u003cp\u003eThis is an unrecorded early variant of a promotional real estate map of Chicago that was issued by Ross \u0026amp; Company with a copyright date of October 1, 1923. The map showcases commercial development opportunities and an evolving transportation infrastructure in the city’s booming North Side and downtown districts. \u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eExtending from Lincoln Park in the north to the Illinois Central rail yards and Grant Park in the south, the map captures the area between the lakefront and Halsted Street, emphasizing Chicago’s dense urban grid, key transportation corridors, and the commercial vitality that defined the city in the early twentieth century. It was produced as both a reference tool and a persuasive instrument to attract investment and development.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eColor coding throughout the map helps decode Chicago’s layered transportation networks. Green lines trace the city’s elevated railway system, which encircles the Loop and extends outward into surrounding neighborhoods. Yellow lines indicate streetcar routes, then still the dominant mode of urban transit. Motor bus lines are marked in pink, exemplifying the emergence of motorized buses as a flexible complement to the fixed-rail system.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003ePublic parks and boulevards are highlighted in soft green, underscoring the presence of Chicago’s historic park and boulevard system that provided both recreation and prestige to the neighborhoods it touched. These transit networks illustrate the city’s growing connectivity by the 1920s, while echoing Daniel Burnham’s vision of a unified and efficient urban landscape designed to serve commerce, industry, and the public alike..\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eAt right, a detailed index identifies 66 industrial, commercial, and civic landmarks, including major institutions like the Chicago Tribune, Montgomery Ward, Sears, Roebuck \u0026amp; Co., Marshall Field \u0026amp; Co., and the Pullman Company. The city’s major hotels, newspapers, department stores, and manufacturers are all noted, reinforcing the commercial weight of the area covered. The river’s slips and turning basins are also shown in detail, indicating the importance of Chicago’s waterways for shipping and industrial distribution during this period.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eA particularly notable feature of the map is the proposed North and South connecting boulevard, depicted as a direct extension from the southern end of Lake Shore Drive. This planned connection reflects early 20th-century ambitions to unify Chicago’s park and boulevard systems into a continuous lakefront drive; an urban vision that would eventually culminate in the development of today’s Lake Shore Drive. Also of note is the \"(New) $9,000,000 Drake Hotel,\" an icon of the city and landmark along the lakefront that was officially completed and opened to the public on New Year’s Eve, December 31, 1920.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cstrong\u003eRoss \u0026amp; Company\u003c\/strong\u003e, the map’s publisher, was a prominent Chicago-based real estate firm with offices in the Railway Exchange Building at 208 S. Michigan Avenue. Operated by Walter S. Ross and Alfred J. Browne, the company specialized in commercial and industrial property transactions throughout the city. Their strategic location within Daniel Burnham’s landmark office building—home to numerous architects and planners—placed them at the epicenter of real estate activity during a period of aggressive urban growth. This map reflects the firm's role not only as brokers, but as civic boosters invested in shaping and selling the future of Chicago as a modern, interconnected metropolis.\u003cstrong\u003e\u003c\/strong\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"New World Cartographic","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":42497384251453,"sku":"13113","price":4200.0,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":false}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0390\/9705\/files\/13113a.jpg?v=1753743169"},{"product_id":"13112","title":"1908 Illinois Tunnel Company Map of Chicago","description":"\u003cp\u003eThis rare and highly detailed map, issued by the Illinois Tunnel Company in the early 20th century, depicts the subterranean freight tunnel system that once operated beneath the streets of downtown Chicago. Stretching across the central business district and radiating into key warehouse and rail yards, the map reveals a vast network of below-ground corridors used for transporting mail, merchandise, coal, ash, and supplies, entirely independent of street-level congestion.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003ch4\u003eChicago Beneath the Surface: The Illinois Tunnel System\u003c\/h4\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eThe map highlights the layout of the tunnel routes with thick black lines, snaking beneath the Loop and connecting with major railroad terminals, wholesale markets, and industrial facilities. The reach of the tunnel system spans from the Chicago River in the north to the Illinois Central freight yards along the lakefront, and westward toward the vast rail infrastructure near Union Station. The integration of the tunnel system with existing rail lines and basements of commercial buildings demonstrates a remarkable feat of urban engineering and planning.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eFirst constructed beginning in 1899 and completed by 1906, the tunnel system eventually extended over 60 miles beneath downtown Chicago. Originally intended for telephone cables, it evolved into a major freight delivery network used primarily by department stores, railroads, and the U.S. Post Office. It allowed for 24-hour delivery services using electric locomotives and small freight cars, completely out of sight and unaffected by the surface traffic that increasingly clogged Chicago’s streets.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003ch4\u003eShaping the Shoreline: Lakefront Expansion and a New Civic Spine\u003c\/h4\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eBeyond its utility as a tunnel schematic, the map captures a transformative moment in the reshaping of Chicago’s lakefront. At bottom-center, Lake Michigan is shown budding up against the Illinois Central Railway with a notation that it was \"in process of filling up to dotted line.\" This reclamation project would eventually become Grant Park and the lakefront boulevards that now define the city’s eastern edge. \u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eAlso of note is a manuscript annotation that says \"note\" with a link running to what appears to be the Michigan Avenue bridge traversing the main branch of the Chicago river and connecting to Pine Street. This notation foreshadows the construction of the Michigan Avenue Bridge, completed in 1920, which helped to unify the North and South sides of the city’s principal commercial corridor. The bridge would later become a central feature of Burnham’s Plan of Chicago, enabling the transformation of North Michigan Avenue into the city’s premier boulevard.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eAt lower right, the map is signed by George W. Jackson, chief engineer of the Illinois Tunnel Company, further affirming its authenticity and technical purpose. Jackson oversaw the massive subterranean excavation and infrastructure work that made the system operational. While the tunnel network fell into decline by mid-century and was largely forgotten, it remains one of Chicago’s most ambitious and mysterious engineering accomplishments.\u003cstrong\u003e\u003c\/strong\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"New World Cartographic","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":42497455128637,"sku":"13112","price":1800.0,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":false}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0390\/9705\/files\/13112a.jpg?v=1753746824"},{"product_id":"13103","title":"1905-1924 Map Showing Bridges over the Chicago River and Part of Its Branches","description":"\u003cp\u003e\u003cstrong\u003eBy:\u003c\/strong\u003e Thomas G. Pihlfeldt\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cstrong\u003eDate: \u003c\/strong\u003e1905 \/ 1924 (dated) Chicago\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cstrong\u003eDimensions: \u003c\/strong\u003e36 x 23 inches (91.5 x 58.5 cm)\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eThis large-format technical map was prepared by the City of Chicago Bureau of Engineering as a working document to evaluate, record, and modernize the city’s extensive bridge infrastructure. This map is quite rare with only one other know example in institutional holding. \u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eFirst compiled in March 1905, the map was updated multiple times, with the most recent revision dated December 16, 1924. The example at hand appears to be a photo-static copy, likely used as a reference copy within the city’s engineering department, but it bears a genuine ink signature by Thomas G. Pihlfeldt, the city’s Engineer of Bridges. This detail confirms its use as an active working document within the office responsible for Chicago’s early 20th-century bridge modernization efforts.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003ch4\u003eMap Scope and Layout\u003c\/h4\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eThe map provides a detailed survey of all known bridges over the Chicago River, including its Main Stem, North Branch, and South Branch, as well as portions of the Calumet and Little Calumet Rivers. It spans the urban corridor from Evanston Avenue (now Broadway) in the north to the southern industrial reaches of the Calumet River. Two inset maps extend the coverage, showing the broader Lake Calumet region and crossings along the Little Calumet River, underscoring the significance of waterway infrastructure to both freight and passenger movement in Chicago’s vast and growing industrial zones.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003ch4\u003eBridge Types, Condition, and Planned Improvements\u003c\/h4\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eThis map was created at a pivotal moment when Chicago was transitioning away from 19th-century wooden and iron drawbridges toward the more efficient and mechanically robust bascule bridge. Many of the replacements proposed on this map were ultimately constructed during the 1920s and 1930s and remain in place today as part of the city’s iconic river-crossing network. The document functions not only as a record of what existed but also as a visual blueprint of what was envisioned, its layered notes, multiple revision dates, and precise classifications point to its use in real-time urban planning and structural assessment.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eRunning along the left margin is a comprehensive bridge inventory, listing each crossing by street name, year of construction, and bridge type. This list, accompanied by a symbol key at center-left, also notes whether a structure was slated for replacement or modernization. The classification system identifies several varieties of movable and fixed spans, including old combination drawbridges, rolling and trunnion bascule bridges, vertical lift bridges (such as Strauss designs), and temporary trestles or fixed truss spans. Each bridge’s condition is implied through notations, with many older structures designated for eventual replacement—signaling the city’s growing concern with congestion, reliability, and mechanical obsolescence.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003ch4\u003eA Signature of Authority\u003c\/h4\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eThe presence of Thomas G. Pihlfeldt’s original signature lends further significance to this piece. As the Engineer of Bridges for the City of Chicago, Pihlfeldt played a central role in the design and construction of the city’s major river crossings during this era, including his involvement with the landmark Michigan Avenue Bridge. His signature on this map confirms it was not merely an internal reference but a formally approved document used in ongoing planning and evaluation. As such, the map stands as a rare and authoritative artifact from Chicago’s golden age of infrastructure development; a period when engineering expertise, municipal ambition, and a dynamic urban landscape converged to reshape the way the city moved across its rivers.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cstrong\u003eCondition: \u003c\/strong\u003eMap is in excellent condition, issued folded now somewhat flat with not visible damage save for some soiling on the verso. Bold blue color is quite attractive over light tan paper.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eInventory #13103\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"New World Cartographic","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":42500448649277,"sku":"13103","price":2800.0,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0390\/9705\/files\/13103a.jpg?v=1753827059"},{"product_id":"13107","title":"1924 Map of the Central Business District of Chicago","description":"\u003cp\u003e\u003cstrong\u003eBy:\u003c\/strong\u003e Chicago Real Estate Index Co.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cstrong\u003eDate: \u003c\/strong\u003e1924 (dated) Chicago\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cstrong\u003eDimensions: \u003c\/strong\u003e22 x 12 inches (56 30.5 cm)\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eThis Map of the Central Business District of Chicago, compiled by the Chicago Real Estate Index Co. in the 1920s, presents a detailed view of downtown at a pivotal moment of expansion. Streets and avenues are carefully delineated, while parks, cultural institutions, railway terminals, and harbor facilities reveal the city’s ambitions to modernize its infrastructure and redefine its lakefront. Surviving in only a handful of institutional collections (mostly in Chicago) and seldom appearing in the trade, the map is a scarce and little-seen depiction of the city’s evolving core.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003ch4\u003eExamining the Map: Waterfront and Urban Development\u003c\/h4\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eWhile the focus of the map is the \"Central Business District,\" it notably presents the re-engineered mouth of the Chicago River, reflecting early 20th-century projects aimed at improving navigation, sanitation, and commercial access. The channel is presented in a structured, widened form, anticipating the major straightening and realignment that would follow in the late 1920s and early 1930s. This formalized depiction marks a departure from the irregular, utilitarian waterfronts of earlier decades.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eNavy Pier is already shown extending prominently into Lake Michigan, a defining landmark of the central waterfront. South of the river, the map also depicts a proposed or partially realized pier with dashed lines near slips D and E. This addition coincides with extensive lakefront reclamation projects that were reshaping the shoreline. The new land created in this area would eventually form what is today known as the Near East Side, bordered by DuSable Lake Shore Drive and DuSable Harbor. At the time, these improvements reflected Chicago’s commitment to expanding its role as both a commercial port and a civic center.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eThe map also illustrates the dominance of rail in the city’s commercial core, with major railway terminals and yards concentrated near the South Branch of the Chicago River. Along the lakefront, significant cultural buildings such as the Field Museum and other structures from the city’s earlier exhibition grounds appear, laying the foundation for what would become the Grant Park cultural campus. This juxtaposition of rail infrastructure, commercial depots, and monumental civic buildings demonstrates the multi-functional nature of the central business district during Chicago’s rise as a national hub.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003ch4\u003eContext of this Map and Chicago in the 1920s\u003c\/h4\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eThis map captures Chicago in transition. Earlier 19th-century maps recorded rapid expansion and speculative plotting, while this example reflects a more organized, planned urban fabric. The lakefront is depicted not only as an industrial and transportation zone but also as a civic and cultural space. Later maps would show the completion of these visions, including the straightening of the river and further development of Grant Park and Soldier Field. This 1920s depiction preserves the moment when Chicago’s central district balanced its industrial might with a growing emphasis on civic identity and urban beautification and recreation.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cstrong\u003eCondition: \u003c\/strong\u003eMap is in very fine condition on fine paper with the top-right corner torn away. Bright colors and no loss of image with ample margins for framing.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eInventory #13107\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"New World Cartographic","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":42559955042365,"sku":"13107","price":950.0,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0390\/9705\/files\/13107a.jpg?v=1756317280"},{"product_id":"13104","title":"1926 The Sanitary District of Chicago. Straightening the South Branch of Chicago River...","description":"\u003cp\u003eCreated by the Sanitary District of Chicago in 1926, this rare ordinance plat charts the straightening of the South Branch between Polk and West 18th Streets, with the new channel and fills clearly defined. It documents a major 1920s modernization that improved navigation and sanitation while creating new industrial land. As a working legal and engineering map, it is extremely rare with no other known examples in institutional holdings.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eThis plan belongs to the 1920s program to rationalize the South Branch after it reversed the flow of the Chicago River at the turn of the 20th century. The S-curves between Polk and 18th impeded barge traffic, trapped debris, and narrowed the channel in a heavily industrial zone. The 1926 ordinance authorized the cut-off excavation of a new straight channel and the filling of the obsolete bends, creating new upland tracts for factories and yards while improving navigation and sanitation.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003ch4\u003eExamining and Describing the Map in Detail\u003c\/h4\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eThe drawing traces the existing river in a sinuous course from Polk on the west to West 18th Street on the east, then overlays the proposed fill in pale yellow and the ordinance parcels in red outline with numbered circles. Much of the land shown in yellow was subsequently filled and brought into the city grid, while the old slips were shortened or absorbed into adjoining properties. A bold line marks the center line of the new channel, which cuts a straighter, more generous reach through the industrial corridor.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eThe sheet locates adjacent streets and subdivisions on both banks: Taylor, Roosevelt, Maxwell, Stewart, Bates, Holden, Dodge, Stephenson, Lumber, and the Canal Trustees subdivisions. It identifies slips, canals, and railroad properties, including Armour Slip, Union Slip, Empire 75 Slip, and the Stowell’s Canal area. Small notes at right explain the color system and state that parcel boundaries reflect the City ordinance while District tracts show Sanitary District takings.\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"New World Cartographic","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":42560268861501,"sku":null,"price":750.0,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0390\/9705\/files\/13104a.jpg?v=1756330648"}],"url":"https:\/\/nwcartographic.com\/collections\/berk-wright-collection.oembed","provider":"New World Cartographic","version":"1.0","type":"link"}