This project overlays historical maps above the contemporary geography to reveal changes to the urban form over time. Search for any address. Drag the time slider left and right. Fly around the historical city and your own neighborhood.

Zoom in on the map. Can you find your address and your home on this map? What was your neighborhood like in 1850?

This 1889 map captures Newark at the height of the Industrial Revolution: population 182,000. Hundreds of factories bordered the freight railroad lines and waterways. Thousands of business names and business owners are labeled for every building and city lot in the entire city. Dozens of trolley lines reached into every corner of the American city.

Each of the library's approximately two dozen volumes contains: a decorative title page; an index of streets and addresses; a master index showing the entire mapped area for Newark, and sheet numbers for each neighborhood in the city (usually depicting some 20 to 30 city blocks on each page).

What patterns of urban growth do you notice on this map? How is the city that you see in this map different from the city you know today?