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1949 Map of Philadelphia

Name: 1949 Topographic Map of Philadelphia
Creator: U.S. Geological Survey
Published: 1953
License: https://creativecommons.org/publicdomain/mark/1.0/

USGS Topo · Published 1953

About this map

Philadelphia is presented in immense detail just after the war, documenting a dense urban core defined by its historic grid and industrial waterfronts. The map captures the city's complex transit network at a peak, showing the heavy presence of the Pennsylvania RR, Reading RR, and B & O RR as they converge on the Schuylkill River and Delaware River. Beyond the downtown center, the landscape is dotted with significant institutions of learning and civic life, from Girard College and the University of Pennsylvania to the vast green space of Fairmount Park.

Evidence of the city's maritime and military importance is clear along the southern shoreline, where the Us Naval Reservation and Mustin Airfield dominate the area near League Island. Further west, neighborhoods like Elmwood and Overbrook show established residential patterns, while landmarks such as Independence Hall and the Eastern State Penitentiary remain fixed points in the rapidly evolving post-war metropolitan area. Genealogists will find the large tracts of the Old Cathedral Cemetery and Woodlands Cemetery particularly useful for tracing early city residents.