Bird’s Eye View maps, popular from the 1860s until about 1920,
depict places as if they were viewed from above at an angle. Using direct observation and some imagination, artists working for a number of companies specializing in these panoramic products visited towns to sketch out the place.
The sketches, which were sold to local residents, were not drawn to scale,
but showed streets, patterns, individual buildings, and major landscape
features in perspective. They are very useful for researching the history of a community or an old house. In 1907, the cartographic artists representing
Fowler and Kelly of Morrisville, Pa were busy at the head of the Chesapeake Bay. As they made a sweep of the area the illustrators produced Bird’s Eye Views of Elkton, Havre de Grace and Rising Sun.
Here’s the Rising Sun Map from 1907.
