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Bird's-eye view of the Palmetto city, Charleston, S.C. – Antique Wall Map

Bird's-eye view of the Palmetto city, Charleston, S.C., [1857] — antique engraving
Bird's-eye view of the Palmetto city, Charleston, S.C., [1857]. Antique engraving from the Charleston collection.

(Originally scanned by the Library of Congress. Each image is professionally and digitally cleaned of artifacts such as color bars and extra borders prior to printing.)

Description

Few images capture their era like this antique engraving of Bird's-eye view of the Palmetto city, Charleston, S.C.. It comes from the collections of the Library of Congress, scanned from the original and carefully restored.

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Bird's-eye view of the Palmetto city, Charleston, S.C.

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Charleston was often called the "Palmetto City," a nod to the palmetto tree on South Carolina's flag and seal, and this wood engraving shows it from a high, sweeping vantage point. Harper's Weekly published it in 1857, when the New York illustrated weekly was widely read and bird's-eye views were a popular way to show a city's harbor, streets and waterfront at a glance. Charleston was then one of the busiest seaports in the South, and the view captures it just a few years before the Civil War drew national attention to the city's economy and politics.

Created / published[1857]
Medium1 print : wood engraving.
GenreBird's-eye view prints 1850-1860.Wood engravings 1850-1860.
NotesFrom Harper's weekly, vol. 15, 1857.
SubjectsCharleston (S.C.)--1850-1860.
SourceLibrary of Congress, Prints and Photographs Division
Original scan4,096 × 3,271 px · prints to 14 × 11 in at 300 dpi
ReferenceAMZ-SOTP-HPA-183498

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