1860s Map of New Jersey on Display in Chester

Thanks to the Friends of the Chester Library, a scarce 1860 topographical map of New Jersey now reveals all its colors and detail in the Library. The Friends raised funds to have the map conserved by the Center for Conservation of Art and Historic Artifacts (CCAHA) in Philadelphia.

The map returned to its home in the Library on Sept. 14, after more than 10 months in conservation.

Created from the State Geological Survey, U.S. Coast Survey, and surveys by civil engineer G. Morgan Hopkins, the map features illustrated views of Camden, Delaware Water Gap, New Brunswick, Newark, Paterson, and Trenton. Mapped segments of New Jersey’s borders with Delaware, New York, and Pennsylvania, as well as the coastline, provide remarkable detail of the state immediately before the Civil War. Additionally, visitors can see street map insets of Belvidere, Beverly, Bordentown, Burlington, Camden, Elizabeth, Jersey City/Hoboken, Morristown, Mount Holly, New Brunswick, New Jersey, Newark, Newton, Orange, Paterson, Rahway, Salem, and Trenton.

The map also features a meteorological map of the state and a “Time Dial” showing the time in select cities when it is 12:00 in Trenton. The time dial is of particular interest to researchers exploring time measurement prior to the introduction of Standard Time in 1883.

Three Decades in Storage

For 30 years, the wall map (approximately 80 x 70 in., framed) had been in rolled storage, but previously, it hung in the Library when it was in the Quonset hut. When unrolled in September 2011, the map showed wear from age and handling. The Local History Librarian, Debra Schiff, brought the map to the conservators at the CCAHA who cleaned it; removed the original linen backing and replaced it with fine Japanese paper; in-painted areas with content loss; and mounted the map in a custom frame with museum-quality, ultra-violet light protecting acrylic.

The Local History Department of the Chester Library in Chester, New Jersey is a resource for reference and original materials that document Chester, Morris County, and N.J. history. The purpose of the Local History Department is to collect, preserve, describe, and make accessible these materials to the local community, as well as to visiting and online researchers.