The Cartographer's Gaze

Published by the GM Hopkins firm from Philadelphia, this map depicts building materials, typologies, and footprints, fire hydrants, water pipes, sewer lines, steam railroad lines, and ward boundaries during Providence’s peak industrialization. The firm was one of the first to produce cadastral atlases, or maps that portrayed the extent, value, and ownership of land for taxation (Geographicus Rare Antique Maps, 2024). Since this atlas was created by men from a distant city, there is an inherent bias and demonstration of power over how the value of land in Providence is assigned by people who do not live in and understand the city first hand. The map is meant to establish a division of the environs and wards in Providence and their relationship to the distribution of buildings typologies and plumbing infrastructure, which serves as a tool to give real-estate value to the land. This type of representation is targeted towards those who can afford to purchase plots of land and develop them; the construction typology, materiality, and infrastructure of Providence is documented with little regard to the  the communities inhabiting these spaces. The only names on the map are those of privileged people who own large plots of land. The ward boundaries separate the land of Providence with little regard to the geometry and existence of the Cove Basin at its center. This map indicates either a lack of services or a lack of attention to this area, suggesting another means of devaluing the Snowtown neighborhood.