Oldest map of Evanston

The oldest separately-printed map of Evanston can now be viewed online. It's a large wall map with information about street plans, buildings, property ownership and local businesses.

This rare city plan was published circa 1876 by Evanston Surveyor Theodore Reese. It is entitled Map of Evanston, Cook County, Illinois. Compiled and drawn from Latest Records and actual Surveys and Published By Theodore Reese Civil Engineer and Surveyor Evanston.

In 2006 Northwestern University's Library purchased the map from Central Street map dealer George Ritzlin. Since then Northwestern has undertaken an extensive restoration of the Reese map. In addition to being the oldest map of Evanston it's the only known surviving example and was previously unrecorded.

Evanston history buffs can view the high-resolution zoomable image at:

 www.library.northwestern.edu/archives/exhibits/map/index.html

This will make the information available to anyone interested in Evanston
history while avoiding wear and tear on this fragile map.

More background on the map is at:

 http://www.library.northwestern.edu/news/archives/003044.html

A video of the restoration can be seen at:

 http://www.northwestern.edu/newscenter/stories/2009/07/evanstonmap.html

You can read more about it in the Evanston Review:

http://www.pioneerlocal.com/evanston/news/1687791,Evanston-Northwestern-map-072709-s1.article