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Mapping Local and Commuter Rail Transit in NYC: Additional Resources

This guide covers how to research for maps related to subways and railroads in New York City within the Lionel Pincus and Princess Firyal's Map Division.

About

Main Reading Room looking South; NYPL Digital Collections Image ID 1153330When researching rail transit in New York City, utilizing maps with other types of records and materials can provide a greater understanding about how these methods of rail transit were built, how they operated, and their impact on local communities.

For instance:

  • a map can assist in visualizing where the rail transit was being built. 
  • comparing maps with archival documents and reports can provide a better understanding of the companies that created these railways.
  • photographs can help visualize what building these rail lines were like, as well as what commuters would have experienced.

To see an example of how these different types of materials can work together, click the "Example" tab. 

In the meantime, see below for a list of additional non-cartographic materials that could be of use: 

Image Source: Main Reading Room looking South; NYPL Digital Collections Image ID 1153330

When researching local transit in New York City, looking at maps in conjunction with other types of materials will provide greater historical and social context to the map. As an example, let us take a look at 1913's Columbia University in the City of New York. As you can see on the bottom, this map highlights the subway and Hudson lines as red, while elevated lines are depicted as brown. 

Columbia University in the City of New York [map of New York City and local transit] 1913

Image Source: Columbia University in the City of New York. 1913. NYPL Digital Collections Image ID 5059983

While the map gives a sense of what the routes were and where stations were located, what was the experience of riding on these trains? Let us take a look at the 1913 edition of Rand McNally guide to New York city and environs. As you can see on page 27, the guide details which trains run express versus local.

NYC Rand McNally NYC 1913 city guide and pages 27-28Image Source: Cover and Page 27 of Rand McNally guide to New York city and environs ... ; IRGV (Rand McNally guide to New York city and environs) 1913. Image courtesy of NYPL via HathiTrust.


Rand McNally NYC city guide 1913 elevated railways information page 24-25

 

You might also be wondering what was the fare for riding local transit in 1913. When we look at page 24 and 25 in 1913's Rand McNally guide to New York city and environs, we get a better understanding of how tickets were purchased and collected, fares, and how transfers were coordinated at the time.

Image Source: Page 24-25 of Rand McNally guide to New York city and environs ... ; IRGV (Rand McNally guide to New York city and environs) 1913. Image courtesy of NYPL via HathiTrust.

 

City guides will often also list the locations for the local transit stations. Using the inset from the earlier, Columbia University in the City of New York, we can match the station locations to the map. In addition, this mapping can help us determine which line ran through a station when the name of the station's location does not indicate the name of the line. For example: "Battery Place" was part of the Ninth Avenue "El." Please see below for 2 additional examples of mapping from the guide to the map. 

Highlighting stations from Rand McNally 1913 city guide to Columbia Map

Image Source: Page 26 and 28 of Rand McNally guide to New York city and environs ... ; IRGV (Rand McNally guide to New York city and environs) 1913. Image courtesy of NYPL via HathiTrust.

While reviewing the map and the city guide, you might also be interested in what it would have been like to walk around the city amidst these local transit systems. To do so, still images are a useful tool for visualizing what the experience would have been. For example, on our map Columbia University in the City of New York, we have a station for an elevated railway at Grand and Bowery. When we take a look at page 26 of 1913's Rand McNally guide to New York city and environs, we can see that this station is part of the 3rd Avenue "El." I then was able to find a postcard from 1912 titled "Bowery, north from Grand St., New York." As we can see in this postcard, the elevated railways dominated the skyline while streetcars and trolleys were still being utilized at the street-level. 

 

Elevated Railroad on Grand and Bowery Example on map, city guide, and postcardImage Source: (Clockwise, starting on left): Columbia University in the City of New York. 1913. NYPL Digital Collections Image ID 5059983  / Page 26 of Rand McNally guide to New York city and environs ... ; IRGV (Rand McNally guide to New York city and environs) 1913. Image courtesy of NYPL via HathiTrust. / Bowery, north from Grand St., New York. 1912, NYPL Digital Collections Image ID 836563 

Recommended Books at NYPL

To find books in our Online Research Catalog that are related to the history of the rapid transit system in New York City, we recommend the following searches:

If you are interested specifically in contracts that were made in relation to NYC's rapid transit, you can also do a combined search of Subway (Keyword) + Contract (Title)

Click the next tab, to see a number of recommended books that cover the history of the rapid transit system in New York City!

Guidebooks and Directories

Travel guides and directories are useful resources to learn more information about local transit in NYC, both before and after the introduction of the subway system in 1904. Both types of items would often include information about local transit, whether it was information about stops, fares, or tips on commuting within the city. For the purposes of this research guide, we are defining these terms as:

Travel guides: Books that were created specifically with a tourist perspective. They often included maps, timetables, places to visits, restaurants, hotel accomodations, and how to travel to and in the city. 

Directories:  Books that record the names and addresses of city residents, businesses, churches, schools, police stations, courts, and other government offices, as well as the names of individuals associated with those institutions. They also feature images, including maps, illustrations of buildings, and advertisements.

To learn more about these types of materials and how to access them, please reach out to the Irma and Paul Milstein Division of United States History, Local History and Genealogy at history@nypl.org

When searching for New York City travel guides, we highly recommend reviewing our research guide Old Time Tours-19th Century Guidebooks. This guide contains information on how to search and access these guidebooks in our collection, as well as additional useful resources.

Online Research Catalog

When using the Online Research Catalog:

  • In the Advanced Search function, we recommend the following searches into the Keyword Field:
    • Guidebooks [New York City / borough]
    • Guidebooks Travel [New York City / borough]
    • Description Travel [New York City / borough]
      • Example: Description Travel Queens New York
      • When searching for material related to the borough of Queens, it is generally helpful to include New York as part of your search, to focus searches on specifically the borough.

Rand McNally 1913 NYC Guide pages about how to use subway

Image Source: Page 27-28 of Rand McNally guide to New York city and environs ... ; IRGV (Rand McNally guide to New York city and environs) 1913. Image courtesy of NYPL via HathiTrust

When searching for New York City travel guides, we highly recommend reviewing the following research guides which provide an overview of how to locate city directories within NYPL's collection:

We also recommend reviewing the blog post Direct Me NYC 1786: A History of City Directories in the United States and New York City to learn more about the history of city directories, how to utilize them in your research, and additional resources to get your started,

Doggett's New York City street directory for 1851: Image ID: 57995932 pg 41Online Research Catalog

When using the Online Research Catalog to search for NYC-related directories:

  • In the Advanced Search function, we recommend the following searches into the Keyword Field:
    • Directories [New York City / borough]

Online Resources

Image Source: Doggett's New York City street directory for 1851, NYPL Digital Collections Image ID 57995932 pg 41

Recommended Photograph Collections at NYPL Digital Collections

NYPL Digital CollectionsTo find photographic and picture collections in NYPL Digital Collections that depict the rapid transit system in New York City, we recommend the following searches, with "still image" checkmarked under "Type" :

Click the next tab, to see a number of recommended photograph and picture collections that depict the rapid transit system in New York City!

Recommended Archival Collections at NYPL

NYPL Archives PortalTo find archival materials in NYPL's Collections that refer to the rapid transit system in New York City, we recommend the following searches in NYPL's Archival Portal:

Click the next tab, to see a number of recommended archival collections that reference the rapid transit system in New York City!

  • William J. Boucher papers related to subway construction in New York City 1905-1907
    • MssCol 345
    • Note: These three volumes, labeled "Special Work," contain William J. Boucher's data relative to subway construction in New York City in 1905-1907
  • Stephen Schmidt engineering papers
    • MssCol 2692
    • Note: Papers relating to the construction of Route 43, Section 1 (and relating routes and sections) of the New York City subway. Consists of a diary maintained by Schmidt recording his professional activities as a section engineer with the New York State Public Service Commission; weekly reports of work accomplished, submitted to the commission by the senior assistant engineer; photographs; and other miscellaneous papers
  • NYPIRG Straphangers Campaign records 1962-2007 [bulk 1979-2006]
    • Note: MssCol 6147
    • The New York Public Interest Research Group Straphangers Campaign was founded in 1979 to lobby for the repair and improvement of New York City's subway and bus services. It has played a vital role in the rehabilitation of public transportation in New York City.

Additional Digital Collections

Please see below for a list of recommended institutions and databases that hold materials related to rail transit in NYC:

Blogs of Interest

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