New atlas puts New Jersey back on the map

RELEASE: Nov. 20, 2009 – Volume XLI, No. 47

Maps have been around for as long as human civilization. Early cartographers drew maps on animal skins or carved them into clay tablets to help hunters and traders find their way.

Modern maps show much more – everything from rainfall to railroads, from preserved lands to toxic waste sites, from how residents vote to how much money they make.

But what you may not know is that New Jersey has just produced its first statewide atlas of maps in more than 100 years!

“Mapping New Jersey: An Evolving Landscape,” was published by Rutgers University Press in 2009. Its large size and glossy cover make it a “coffee table” book, and it is packed with fascinating maps and information about this state we’re in.

Mapping New Jersey is a reminder that simple graphics can convey ideas more powerfully than words. For example, one map shows the outline of Alaska with 77 little New Jerseys tucked inside. The text notes that Alaska’s total population is about the same as Hudson County’s. No wonder some New Jerseyans weren’t all that impressed with Sarah Palin’s governing experience!

Some highlights:

The oldest map in the book was drawn in 1635 by Dutch cartographer Willem Janszoon Blaeu. Because of its unusual orientation – the top of the map points west instead of north - readers may find it initially difficult to pick out the familiar shape formed by the Atlantic Ocean, Delaware River and Hudson River.

Another map shows the New Jersey shoreline as it looked some 20,000 years ago, when sea level was about 400 feet lower due to water stored in ice sheets. A rather sobering companion map shows what New Jersey would look like if the sea level were to rise another 100 feet. Hint: most of South Jersey would disappear.

Think the New Jersey Turnpike and Garden State Parkway are “modern” transportation corridors? Think again! American Indian trails in the 1600s formed the basis for many of New Jersey’s earliest roads. A surprising number of these routes are still used today.

New Jersey has had its share of boundary disputes over the years. One map shows how much of the Garden State would be in the Empire State if New York had managed to keep the territory it once claimed. The same map also shows colonial era conflict over the boundary between East Jersey and West Jersey.

Other maps show us the importance of rivers and transportation, the changing nature of immigration and settlement, the distribution of industry, the decline of open spaces, the incidence of disease, the swings in political party affiliation, and hundreds of other topics.

As an avid map lover during the era of e-mail, Kindles and electronic media, I find the publication of a large book of maps both exciting and reassuring.

To order your copy of Mapping New Jersey, or for more information, go to www.rutgerspress.rutgers.edu/acatalog/_Mapping_New_Jersey.html.

And I hope you’ll visit New Jersey Conservation Foundation’s website at www.njconservation.org or contact me at info@njconservation.org, if you would like more information about conserving New Jersey’s land and natural resources.

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