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1891 Map of Ramapo

Name: 1891 Topographic Map of Ramapo
Creator: U.S. Geological Survey
Published: 1891
License: https://creativecommons.org/publicdomain/mark/1.0/

USGS Topo · Published 1891

About this map

Tuxedo Lake and the rugged highlands of the Rockland County and Bergen County borderlands dominate this late nineteenth-century topographic study. The landscape is defined by the narrow corridors of the Ramapo River and its accompanying rail lines, which facilitated the growth of industrial and commuter outposts such as Sloatsburg, Ramapo, and Suffern. To the south and east, the terrain softens into the more densely settled agricultural and suburbanizing tracts of northern New Jersey, where the New Jersey and New York Railroad connects towns like Pearl River, Park Ridge, and Montvale.

Industrial activity is evident in the northern reaches, where the Sterling Mountain Railroad snakes toward the interior, and localized centers like Johnsontown and Ladentown sit along the flanks of the mountains. Regional movement is dictated by the New York Lake Erie and Western Railroad, which serves as a primary artery through the gap at Hillburn, linking the remote uplands of Monroe and Stony Point to the growing population centers in Hohokus and Washington townships.