1849 Greenleaf Map of Michigan

This is Jeremiah Greenleaf's 1849 map of Michigan. This map represents a complete remapping of Michigan not seen in earlier Greenleaf or Burr atlases. The famously distended form of lake Michigan has here been partially modified to greater accuracy.

A Closer Look

Coverage embraces all of Michigan, as well as Lake Michigan, and adjacent parts of Lake Huron, Lake Erie, and Lake Superior. Michigan is broken into color coded counties. Roads and railroads are noted. Coverage extends west to include Chicago and the Illinois Canal, a vital artery for access to the Mississippi and lands west.

Publication History and Census

This map is a much-updated revision of the David Hugh Burr map of 1833. The Burr map plates eventually fell into the hands of Jeremiah Greenleaf, who revised them for publication in his own Universal Atlas. The present example is from the 1849 edition of the atlas, the last and final, which nonetheless was extensively revised over the 1848. We note an example in the David Rumsey collection, which has been populated digitally throughout OCLC, making a comprehensive survey of existing physical examples nearly impossible. Nonetheless, the 1849 edition of the atlas is rare, with Rumsey correctly noted that it is not in Karpinski, despite being a new mapping of Michigan. We do note an example, however, in Phillips.