1886 Burleigh View of Randolph, Vermont

This is L. Burleigh's 1886 bird's-eye view map of Randolph, Vermont.

A Closer Look

This view looks northward on West Randolph - now known simply as Randolph. The railroad line and station pass through the midground, with the two stretching out along Main Street to the north. Braintree Hill rises behind the town. In the foreground, several hunters and a dog patrol the forests. Eleven locations are named, ranging from various churches to prominent local businesses, including 'Prince's Tub Factory' and 'Salisbury Bro's Furniture Factory.' In the lower left, an inset details the Green Mountain Stock Farm. Once a cornerstone of the local economy, the important farm of some 650 acres still exists, though it has since been acquired by a private school that is renovating it as a wilderness education center.

American Bird's-Eye City Views

The Bird's-Eye view industry emerged in the United States in the middle part of the 19th century and coincided with the commercial development of lithographic printing. Before the rise of lithography, the ability to own and display artwork in the home was largely limited to the extremely wealthy, but the advent of lithographic printing made it possible for everyone to own visually striking artwork. A robust trade developed in portraits of political leaders, allegorical and religious images, and city views.

City views were being produced in the United States as early as the 1830s, but the genre exploded after the American Civil War (1861 - 1865). Bridging the gap between maps and pictures, most 19th-century American bird's-eye views presented cities to the public from high points. Some were imagined, but others were drawn from hot-air balloons or nearby hills. The presentation, combining high elevation, commercial interest, and new printing technology, created a uniquely American art form, as described by historian Donald Karshan,

Some print connoisseurs believe that it was only with the advent of the full-blown city-view lithograph that American printmaking reached its first plateau of originality, making a historical contribution to the graphic arts. They cite the differences between the European city-view prints and the expansive American version that reflects a new land and a new attitude toward the land.

The vogue for bird's-eye city views lasted from about 1845 to 1920, during which period some 2,400 cities were thus portrayed, some multiple times. Although views were produced in many urban centers, the nexus of view production in the United States was Milwaukee, Wisconsin. The major American viewmakers were Stoner, Wellge, Bailey, Fowler, Hill Ruger, Koch, Burleigh, Norris, and Morse, among others.

Publication History and Census

This view was drawn, engraved, and published by Lucien Burleigh out of Troy, New York. We note examples at the Boston Public Library and the Library of Congress.