<i>TOPOGRAPHICAL / Map / OF THE / DISTRICT OF COLUMBIA / SURVEYED / IN THE YEARS 1856 ’57 ’58 & ’59 / BY / A. BOSCHKE.</i>
notes: label: Description
content: Albert Boschke (b. 1823) was a German-born civil engineer who served as a draftsman for the U.S. Coast Survey. Realizing that there was no modern map of the District of Columbia, he organized a team of surveyors to rectify this situation. Boschke’s first map of the area, done on his own time and with his own funds, was published in 1857.
label: Description
content: An improved map was in the hands of the printer in 1861 when the Civil War broke out and Boschke was stationed in Boston. Fearing an attack by Confederate forces, the U.S. Army seized the copper plates and printed maps from the printers, and eventually paid them about $8,500 for this material. Many years later, living in California and in need of money, Boschke asked Congress to pay $25,000 for his property. Although Congress granted his petition, the money did not appear. Boschke sued the government but to no avail.
label: Description
content: This is a reduced version of the Boschke map, with “COUNTY ROADS AS CORRECTED TO 1880.” We have not determined who published it.
label: Description
content: Ref: Marcus Baker, “Surveys and Maps of the District of Columbia,” <i>National Geographic</i> 6 (November 1, 1894): 149-178, on 156-158.
label: Description
content: Wilhemus Bogart Bryan, <i>Bibliography of the District of Columbia</i> (Washington, D.C., 1900), p. 121.
label: Description
content: “A. Boschke v. the United States,” in <i>Cases Decided in the Court of Claims of the United States</i> 44 (1910): 397-408.
label: Location
content: Currently not on view
topic: label: Subject
content: Civil War
setName: label: See more items in
content: Medicine and Science: Physical Sciences
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content: Prints from the Physical Sciences Collection
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content: Measuring & Mapping
creditLine: label: Credit Line
content: National Archives and Records Service
dataSource: label: Data Source
content: National Museum of American History
identifier: label: ID Number
content: PH.317490
label: accession number
content: 230397
label: catalog number
content: 317490
objectType: label: Object Name
content: map
physicalDescription: label: Physical Description
content: paper (overall material)
label: Measurements
content: overall: 19 in x 22 in; 48.26 cm x 55.88 cm