Quick Facts about BMT
BMT is an initialism for Brooklyn-Manhattan Transit Corporation.- Years of Note
- Was previously the BRT before it was reconstituted as the BMT in 1924
- Purchased in 1940 by the City of New York, unifying BRT with IRT and the already city-owned IND; managed by New York City Board of Transportation.
- In 1953, the Board of Transportation was replaced with today's New York City Transit Authority
Image Source: Culver Line of the BMT subway system in Brooklyn, N.Y. 1954. NYPL Digital Collections Image ID 5817562
A Selection of BMT Maps at NYPL
BMT lines rapid transit division / BMT. 1928
- Map Div. 22-2406
- Creator: Brooklyn-Manhattan Transit Corporation.
- BMT Lines Surface Division, Brooklyn and Queens transit system. [193-]
- Map Div. 23-895
- Creator: Brooklyn-Manhattan Transit Corporation
- BMT rapid transit lines. Travel guide to World's Fair and other points of interest in New York City. 1939
- Dictionary Catalog: Volume 1, page 156, Row 3, Column 3
- Creator: Tabard Press Inc.
- Hagstrom's map of New York subways, elevated lines / compiled, printed and published by Hagstrom Company Incorporated. [1965]
- Map Div. 04-1807
- Creator: Hagstrom Company
- Note: Includes service information on IRT, BMT, and IND divisions.
- New York, map of midtown Manhattan : in detailed axonometric projection / compiled, prepared and published by Anderson Isometric Maps. 1980
- AA735 N4 An223
- Creator: Anderson Isometric Maps
- Note: Names of subway stations are still the old denominations IND, BMT and IRT.
- Courtesy of Columbia University Libraries
- Supervue of New York City. 1941
- Map Div. 88-5263
- Creator: Supervue Map & Guide Company
- Note: Maps on verso: Routes of the Interborough Rapid Transit Company -- New York City transit system, BMT Division -- Station guide, New York City transit system, Ind. Division.
How to Search the Catalog for BMT Maps
Online Research Catalog
When using the Online Research Catalog:
- In the Advanced Search function, checkmark "Cartographic" under Format.
- If you are interested in finding maps created by the Brooklyn-Manhattan Transit Corporation, we recommend the following searches into the Author Field:
- Not all maps that include BMT routes were created by the rapid transit company itself. Commercial, government, and other rapid transit companies would also showcase these local transit lines on their maps. As such, to include these maps in your search results, we recommend the following searches in the Keyword field:
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Please note that you can narrow your search to more specific results by combining the above search terms with any of the terms listed in the "Terms to Search in the Online Research Catalog" portion of this guide's Using Our Catalogs page.
Dictionary Catalog
- For holdings of other items that are not in the Online Research Catalog, please search in the printed Dictionary Catalog of the Map Division (available online via HathiTrust), by
Additional Recommended Books and Documents at NYPL
To find supplementary books and documents related to the BMT, please conduct the searches listed on this page's "Catalog Tips" with "Cartographic" NOT checkmarked in either our Online Research Catalog or Digital Collections Portal. See below for a list of recommended materials:
- The Rapid transit situation in Greater New York : a situation of vital interest to every citizen. 1927
- TPY (Brooklyn-Manhattan Transit Corporation, New York. Rapid transit situation in Greater New York)
- Note: Creator is "Brooklyn-Manhattan Transit Corporation"
- B-M.T. monthly ... 1916-1938
- TDA+ (B-M.T. monthly)
- Note: 1916-23 published by the Brooklyn Rapid Transit Company; 1924- by the Brooklyn-Manhattan Transit Corporation, New York, and the Brooklyn City Railroad Company.
- BMT-BQT unification plan. Plan and agreement of unification and readjustment for the acquisition and unification under public ownership and control of rapid transit and surface railroads and related power properties and omnibus lines of the Brooklyn-Manhattan transit system in the city of New York [microform] Adopted by the Transit Commission of the state of New York. June 27, 1939.
- *ZV TPG p.v. 352-356 r. 109
- Annual Report... 1923-1942
- TPY (Brooklyn-Manhattan Transit Corporation. Annual report)
- Note: Creator is "Brooklyn-Manhattan Transit Corporation"
- Library has: no. 1-18 (1923/24-40/41); Jan. 30, 1942
- The BMT : a technical and operational history / by Alfred E. Fazio. 2008
- IRH 14-3289
- BMT lines : Brooklyn Manhattan Transit : a history as seen through the company's maps, guides and other documents, 1923-1939 / commentary by James Poulos. 2011
- IRH 12-5478