Franklin Survey Co. “Atlas of Montgomery County Volume B.” [Townships Plymouth, Whitpain, East and West Norriton, Lower Providence, Worcester, Towamencin and Norristown]. 1935

Franklin Survey Co.  Atlas of Montgomery County Volume B.  [Townships Plymouth, Whitpain, East and West Norriton, Lower Providence, Worcester, Towamencin and Norristown]. 

Philadelphia: Franklin Survey Co., 1935.  Folio.  22 ½ x 33 5/8 (full sheet).  Lithographs.  Original hand color.  Eighteen linen backed maps.   Atlas is complete.  Cloth.  Typical wear to covers.  Else, contents very good condition. 

Starting about 1870, atlases of properties in and outside of Philadelphia began to be published by such firms as Bromley, Hopkins and Mueller.  Their output has provided us with excellent, detailed images of the growth of the city of Philadelphia and the suburbs as well from the 1870s through the first part of the twentieth century.  These atlases were used for planning, government purposes, and just for the information of citizens of the area.  These atlases are also known as ‘railroad, real estate, and/or insurance’ atlases and contained very accurate and detailed information such as streets, properties, parks, and other topographical and social features.  Such information as property ownership, materials of construction, proposed developments, and so forth, are given with clear precision.  Thusly these maps provide a rigorous and accurate picture of the locale at one point in history, and allows us a unique privileged look at our past.   

Founded in 1928 by Lewis L. Amsterdam (1899-1991) on Race Street in Philadelphia, the Franklin Survey Company (later renamed “Franklin Maps” by Amsterdam’s son Andrew who relocated the firm to King of Prussia in 1986) was a publisher of real estate and advertising maps for locations all over the country.  In 1943 Amsterdam bought Philadelphia’s G.M. Hopkins Co., which had published real estate atlases since 1865, and thus became the oldest producer of survey atlases in the area.