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It’s hard for us Google Earth-dependent modern-day humans to conceive of, but there was once a time when we had to imagine what our towns and cities looked like from the sky. In fact, there were famous artists who specialised in creating these panoramic views of Earth, although today, it’s a lost art.

A Bird’s Eye View of Progress
The makers of these maps took the accuracy of their creations very seriously. In Panoramic Maps of Cities in the United States and Canada, the historians John R. Hébert and Patrick E. Dempsey explain the maps extensively, including how they were made. They say the artist would walk through the streets of his subject, noting every detail available, from the location of trees to how many windows each building had. They would create a kind of proxy map using their notes, and only start drawing once they had a complete survey.

Newark-New Jersey in 1916, drawn by T. J. Shepherd Landis. Salt Lake City, Utah in 1891 by Henry Wellge, published by American Publishing Co. Birds eye view of Virginia City, Storey County, Nevada, by Augustus Koch in 1840.

The strangeness of these maps spoke to people — and in some cases, it even made them suspicious.
The grandfather of panoramic maps, a man named Thaddeus M. Fowler, was thrown in jail during World War I after residents of Allentown, Pennsylvania, suspected the stranger sketching their town was actually a German spy. Dempsey and Hébert say that Fowler included two aeroplanes and a zeppelin
to give people the false impression that the map had been drawn with help from the technological wonders of the day, which probably didn’t help his case.

Boston bird’s-eye view from the north by John Bachmann, published by L. Prang & Co., circa 1877. New York drawn by John Bachmann and George Schlegel in 1874. The city of New Orleans, and the Mississippi River Lake Pontchartrain in distance, by Currier & Ives in 1885.

Mapping What Could Be
The United States was on its way to becoming a superpower, and these grand, sweeping visions of its cities were the best way to show them off.
“The citizen could view with pride his immediate environment and point out his own property to guests, since the map artist, for a suitable fee, obligingly included illustrations of private homes as insets to the main city plan,” say Dempsey and Hébert. “No other graphic form of this era so effectively captured the vitality of America’s urban centres.”

San Francisco, formerly Yerba Buena, in 1846-7, “before the discovery of gold.” Drawn by Bosqui Eng. & Print. Co. and published in 1884. Birds-eye-view of Seattle and environs King County, Wash., drawn by Augustus Koch in 1891. Pikes Peak panorama by Henry Wellge, published by American Publishing Co. in 1890.

On a map of Denver, dark smoke clouds bluster from trains that run alongside a gridwork of empty plots, just waiting for entrepreneurs to snap them up. A map of Newark shows the young city in the foreground, emphasising the many roadways that lead to New York City, prominent in the background. Chicago’s already dense rat’s nest of railways and terminals are highlighted in fire engine red as they snake from Lake Michigan out into the Midwest.
Everywhere, there’s growth and construction, half-finished streets that fade into the distance, just waiting to be extended. At the same, these artists clearly wanted to include evidence of the incredible natural beauty around them — pink and yellow clouds billow on the horizon, green, rolling fields seem to stretch for days, even the busy lakes and rivers glimmer below the thickets of ships.

Terminals of the Chicago and North-Western Railway at Chicago by Geo. H. Walker & Co., published in 1902. Wauwatosa and the western suburbs of Milwaukee 1892, by Marr & Richards Engraving Co. in 1892. Depew, New York, by Matthews-Northrup Company in circa 1898.

It’s really, really easy to lose yourself in these maps. And once you’ve looked at them for long enough, you start to understand just how different America must have seemed to the people who poured over them. The promise of endless growth, endless industry — the natural resources at hand seemed like they would last forever.
Looking at some of the details today, it’s easy to see the urban patterns that would rear their ugly heads a century later, as some cities regressed and emptied out, leaving the grids empty again. In a weird way, these maps are like archaeological documents — a geologic picture of our cities, frozen in ink and paint instead of rock.
We know what will happen as the cities continue to sprawl and grow. It wasn’t pretty. These maps are a glimpse to an imagined, and sadly very wrong, future where both growth and resources would last forever.

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Where Google Street View is Available

Ever wonder which side of the road different parts of the world drive on? How about what Pangea would look like with today’s international borders? What about where the TV remote is located? Well, this post has the answer to the first two questions and more–and they’re all in map form. For the remote, just check under the couch again.

Check out these maps and see if things make more sense to you!

Countries That Do Not Use the Metric System

The Only 22 Countries in the World Britain Has Not Invaded (not shown: Sao Tome and Principe)

Map of ‘Pangea’ with Current International Borders

McDonald’s Across the World

Paid Maternal Leave Around the World

The Most Common Surnames in Europe by Country

Worldwide Driving Orientation by Country

Map of Time Zones in Antarctica

Global Internet Usage Based on Time of Day

The World’s Busiest Air Routes in 2012

Global Population Density

Flag Map of the World

Map of Alcohol Consumption Around the World

Map of Alcoholic Drink Popularity by Country

Map of Rivers in the Contiguous United States

US Map of the Highest Paid Public Employees by State

World Map of Earthquakes Since 1898

Map of Where 29,000 Rubber Duckies Made Landfall After Falling off a Cargo Ship in the Middle of the Pacific Ocean

Map of Countries with the Most Violations of Bribery

World Map of Vegetation on Earth

Average Age of First Sexual Intercourse by Country

If the World’s Population Lived in One City

The Number of Researchers per Million Inhabitants Around the World

Worldwide Map of Oil Import And Export Flows

The 7,000 Rivers that Feed into the Mississippi River

World Map of the Different Writing Systems

Worldwide Annual Coffee Consumption Per Capita

The Economic Center of Gravity Since 1 AD

The World Divided Into 7 Regions, Each with a Population of 1 Billion

Earth’s Population by Latitude and Longitude

Map of Contiguous United States Overlaid on the Moon

Frequency of Lightning Strikes Throughout the World

Overall Water Risk Around the World

The Most Dangerous Areas in the World To Ship Due to Pirates

Area Codes in Which Ludacris Claims to Have “Hoes”

Where 2% of Australia’s Population Lives

The Longest Straight Line You Can Sail on Earth (Pakistan to Kamchatka Peninsula, Russia – 20000 miles)

Map of Europe Showing Literal Chinese Translations for Country Names

Reversed Map with Southern Hemisphere at Top of Map

Where would we be without maps? Lost. Really, really lost.

The post These 40 Maps Tell You (Mostly) Everything You’ll Ever Need To Know. And Very Quickly. appeared first on Barnorama.

Global Internet Usage Based on Time of Day

Where Google Street View is Available

 Average Age of First Sexual Intercourse by Country

Map of Alcoholic Drink Popularity by Country

World Map of Earthquakes Since 1898

Flag Map of the World

US Map of the Highest Paid Public Employees by State

Map of Alcohol Consumption Around the World

Countries That Do Not Use the Metric System

McDonald’s Across the World

 The Most Common Surnames in Europe by Country

Map of Countries with the Most Violations of Bribery

Map of ‘Pangea’ with Current International Borders

Map of Time Zones in Antarctica

Map of Rivers in the Contiguous United States

World Map of Vegetation on Earth

The Number of Researchers per Million Inhabitants Around the World

Paid Maternal Leave Around the World

The Only 22 Countries in the World Britain Has Not Invaded (not shown: Sao Tome and Principe)

If the World’s Population Lived in One City

 Visualizing Global Population Density

The World’s Busiest Air Routes in 2012

Map of Where 29,000 Rubber Duckies Made Landfall After Falling off a Cargo Ship in the Middle of the Pacific Ocean

Worldwide Driving Orientation by Country

Worldwide Map of Oil Import And Export Flows

The post Maps That’ll Have You Looking at the World Differently appeared first on Barnorama.

This map shows the world divided into 7 sections with each section containing 1 billion people

25 maps that will help you to see the world better.

This map shows where 2 percent of Australia’s population lives

It may not come as a surprise but more people live inside the circle than outside of it

This map shows what is on the other side of the world from where you are standing. For the most part it will probably be water.

Apparently you can’t get Big Macs everywhere. This map shows the countries that have McDonalds in red

This time the countries in red drive on the right side of the road

The countries in white are the ones that England has never invaded. There are only 22 of them

These were all of the world’s internet connections in 1969

And these are all the countries that heavily restrict internet access today

These countries were all communist at one point in time

These are the countries that don’t use the metric system

This is a map of where google street view is available

These are all the landlocked nations of the world

And this is what the world would look like if all the countries with coastlines sank

This is a map of the all the rivers in the United States

And these are all the rivers that feed into the Mississippi River

This is a rather depressing map of the highest paid public employees in the United States

And this is the United States on the moon

This is the longest straight line you can sail. It goes from Pakistan all the way to Kamchatka Peninsula in Russia for a total of 20000 miles

This is a map of 19th century shipping lanes that outlines the continents

This map shows every country that has ever operated an aircraft carrier

This map highlights the countries with the most skyscrapers in red and orange

This map shows the world’s largest donors of foreign aid

These are all of the most photographed places in the world

And this is all the places where you can get eaten by a Great White Shark

The post 25 Maps appeared first on Barnorama.

Where Google Street View is Available

Great selection of maps.

Countries That Do Not Use the Metric System

The Only 22 Countries in the World Britain Has Not Invaded (not shown: Sao Tome and Principe)

Map of ‘Pangea’ with Current International Borders

McDonald’s Across the World

Paid Maternal Leave Around the World

The Most Common Surnames in Europe by Country

Worldwide Driving Orientation by Country

Map of Time Zones in Antarctica

Global Internet Usage Based on Time of Day

The World’s Busiest Air Routes in 2012

Visualizing Global Population Density

Flag Map of the World

Map of Alcohol Consumption Around the World

Map of Alcoholic Drink Popularity by Country

Map of Rivers in the Contiguous United States

US Map of the Highest Paid Public Employees by State

World Map of Earthquakes Since 1898

Map of Where 29,000 Rubber Duckies Made Landfall After Falling off a Cargo Ship in the Middle of the Pacific Ocean

Map of Countries with the Most Violations of Bribery

World Map of Vegetation on Earth

Average Age of First Sexual Intercourse by Country

If the World’s Population Lived in One City

The Number of Researchers per Million Inhabitants
Around the World

Worldwide Map of Oil Import And Export Flows

The 7000 Rivers that Feed into the Mississippi River

World Map of the Different Writing Systems

Worldwide Annual Coffee Consumption Per Capita

The Economic Center of Gravity Since 1 AD

The World Divided Into 7 Regions,
Each with a Population of 1 Billion

Earth’s Population by Latitude and Longitude

Map of Contiguous United States
Overlaid on the Moon

Frequency of Lightning Strikes Throughout the World

Overall Water Risk Around the World

The Most Dangerous Areas in the World
To Ship Due to Pirates

Area Codes in Which Ludacris Claims to Have H*es
(song reference)

Where 2% of Australia’s Population Lives

The Longest Straight Line You Can Sail on Earth
(Pakistan to Kamchatka Peninsula, Russia – 20000 miles)

Map of Europe Showing Literal
Chinese Translations for Country Names

Reversed Map with Southern Hemisphere at Top of Map (because position of North is arbitrary)

*Bonus*
World Map Tattoo with Countries Visited Coloured

The post Maps That Will Help You Understand the World appeared first on Barnorama.

Want to go to there.

The post 1943 Pictorial Map Of “Loveland,” The Loveliest Of All Lands appeared first on Barnorama.

Lithuania is the latest country where Google has launched its Street View service. Here are the most interesting images captured in Lithuania. It seems like 80% of people who live there are temporary drunk. But Lithuania also has a lot of beautiful places and people. For example, Miss Lithuania 2012 Greta Mikalauskyte.

The post Google Street View Lithuania appeared first on Barnorama.

Maps reinvented artistically.

1. New York City Quilt by Haptic Lab

2. Typographic World Map by Design Ahoy

3. Urban Carpet by Marcella Campa & Stefano Avesani

4. Meat world map by Elvira Rajek

5. Hand-crafted street maps by Karen O’Leary

6. “Made in America” cast iron skillets by FeLion Studios

7. Mexico City paper sculpture map by Matthew Picton

8. Laser cut wood maps of underwater topography by Below the Boat

9. Blinking City by Marcella Campa & Stefano Avesani

10. Oslo Ceramic Coasters by Anders Hansen

11. Recycled computer world map by Susan Stockwell

12. LOTR-style map of America by redditor Jvlivs

13. Topographical Lego map of NYC by JR Schmidt

14. Brooklyn map pillow by Melissa Corwin

15. World coin map by Swedish design firm Bedow

16. Another currency map, by redditor The310Investigator

17. Papercut map of London by Famille Sumemrbelle

18. Screen printed papercut map of Paris by Famille Summerbelle

19. City tiles by Renata Rubim

20. United States bookshelf by Ron Arad

21. “Cartographies” by Jennifer Maravillas

22. London Underground circuit radio map by Yuri Suzuki

23. Typographic Chicago map by Axis Maps

24. Hong Kong Landcarpet by Florian Pucher

25. “Mapkins” by Soft Cities

26. “The City Slipper” by Swims

27. Munich by Lu Xinjian

28. Chipped away world map by Jean Denant

29. London Underground string map by fsm vpggru

30. “World Trip” fish tank by Takuro Yamamoto

31. Tundra quilt by Leah Evans

32. Real-time wind map by hint.fm

The post Imaginative And Beautifully Designed Maps appeared first on Barnorama.

Source

The post Another Douchebag Found on Google Maps appeared first on Barnorama.

Horsehead Boy

Strange Cloud

Missing Flight

Robed Figures

Jesus in a Field

Giant Pliers

Sea Monster/Kraken

Atlantis

Naked Guy in Trunk

Body on the Street

Live Missile

Airplane in Brooklyn

UFO in Hackettstown, New Jersey

Italy’s Big Pink Bunny

Australia’s Blue Tree

Iraq’s Bloody Lake

Nevada: Desert Crop Circle

Swastika Building

Car Parked on Side of Building

Backyard Airplane

Badlands Guardian

Mysterious Structure in China

Source

The post Interesting Images Found on Google Maps appeared first on Barnorama.

World map

London

New York

San Francisco

Washington, DC

Paris

Berlin

Barcelona

Rome

Tokyo

Manchester

Liverpool

Dublin

Europe

North America

New Orleans

Los Angeles

Sydney

Hong Kong

Rio de Janeiro

Source

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