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1893 Map of Ramapo

Name: 1893 Topographic Map of Ramapo
Creator: U.S. Geological Survey
Published: 1893
License: https://creativecommons.org/publicdomain/mark/1.0/

USGS Topo · Published 1893

About this map

The Ramapo River cuts a prominent valley through the Rockland Mountains in this late 19th-century study of the borderlands between New York and New Jersey. The landscape is defined by its complex industrial and transportation network, dominated by numerous competing rail lines including the New York Lake Erie and Western Railroad and the specialized Sterling Mountain Railroad. These tracks link established mountain settlements like Sloatsburg and Suffern to the growing residential areas in the south, such as Pearl River and Park Ridge.

High points like Torne and High Mt overlook a terrain dotted with significant water bodies, including Tuxedo Lake and Greenwood Lake. The map captures the region before heavy 20th-century suburbanization, showing the original locations of rural communities like Johnsontown and Masonicus. Along the lower Hohokus Creek and Saddle River, the transition from the rocky uplands to the gentler hills of Bergen County is clearly marked by a denser grid of roads and settlements.