Mapping Local and Commuter Rail Transit in NYC: IRT

• All to be operated by Interborough for a single 5 cent fare. [1915]
  • Map Div. 14-1312
  • Creator: Interborough Rapid Transit Company
  • Note: Shows existing, proposed and "under construction" subway lines in New York City operated by the Interborough Rapid Transit Company, as well as proposed lines in need of city funding.
• Routes of the Interborough Rapid Transit Company / by Rand McNally & Co. 1911
  • Map div. 15-483
  • Creator: Rand McNally
  • Note: Shows subway and elevated lines in Manhattan, the Bronx and downtown Brooklyn.
• [Map showing rapid transits line in New York, June 1918.]
  • Map Div. 15-493
  • Creator: Interborough Rapid Transit Company
  • Note: Shows subway and elevated lines operated by the Interborough Rapid Transit Co. and Brooklyn Rapid Transit Co. in Manhattan, Brooklyn, Queens and the Bronx.
• Hagstrom's map of New York subways, elevated lines / compiled, printed and published by Hagstrom Company Incorporated. [1952]
  • Map Div. 04-1805
  • Creator: Hagstrom Company
  • Note: Covers Bronx, Manhattan, Queens, and Brooklyn, and includes statistics, notes, and service information on IRT, BMT, and IND divisions.

Image Source: Map showing the lines of the Interborough Rapid Transit Co. 1904. NYPL Digital Collections Image ID 1113707

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 Interborough Rapid Transit Company, we recommend the following searches into the Author field:
  • Interborough Rapid Transit Company
• Not all maps that include IRT 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:
  • Interborough Rapid Transit Company
  • IRT

• Please note that you can have 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 related to the Interborough Rapid Transit Company that are not in the Online Research Catalog, please search in the printed Dictionary Catalog of the Map Division (available online via HathiTrust), by
  • Volume 5, p. 307-308, under Interborough Rapid Transit Company

To find supplementary books and documents related to the IRT, 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:

• Interborough rapid transit; the New York subway, its construction and equipment. 1904
  • Available online via NYPL Digital Collections: Click here to access
• Photographic Views of the Construction of the New York City Subway System, 1901-1905
  • Available online via NYPL Digital Collections: Click here to access
• Analysis of the rapid transit contracts between the city of New York and the Interborough Rapid Transit Company and the N.Y. Municipal Railway Corporation. 1913
  • Eng 865.5
  • Courtesy of Harvard Library
• Fifty years of rapid transit, 1864-1917 / by James Blaine Walker. 1918
  • TPY (Walker, J. B. Fifty years of rapid transit)
  • Available online via HathiTrust: Click here to access