1953 Map of Delmar

About this map

Bethlehem and Coeymans are captured in a state of post-war transition, where the expanding suburbs of Delmar and Elsmere meet the heavy infrastructure of the Hudson River valley. The map documents the early construction of the New York State Thruway, then marked as a construction road or simply under construction. This massive project is shown slicing through rural land near Glenmont and Bethlehem Center. To the south, the industrial scale of the era is evident at the Selkirk Yards and Selkirk Airport, which served as critical transport hubs for the New York Central Railroad. Along the river, a complex network of islands and creeks like Papscanee Island and Schermerhorn Island define the waterfront across from Castleton-on-Hudson, while numerous family-named junctions such as Houcks Corners and Beckers Corners preserve the earlier agricultural geography of the region.