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The Map That Made Manhattan : The Indicator from Planet Money Manhattan is known for being a grid. But 200 years ago, it was a hilly, bucolic wilderness. The transformation all started with a secret map. And the reason was all about economics.
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The Map That Made Manhattan

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The Map That Made Manhattan

The Indicator from Planet Money

The Map That Made Manhattan

The Map That Made Manhattan

Listen · 9:59
  • Download
  • <iframe src="https://www.npr.org/player/embed/784511905/784516438" width="100%" height="290" frameborder="0" scrolling="no" title="NPR embedded audio player">
  • Transcript
1811 map of Manhattan
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Stacey Vanek Smith /NPR
1811 map of Manhattan
Stacey Vanek Smith /NPR

Manhattan was once a bucolic island of rolling hills, swamps, beavers and bears. Today, the city is an almost-completely-flat grid.

This was no organic evolution: in the early 19th century, a radical new map was proposed to completely transform the island. The idea was to make Manhattan an efficient, global center of commerce. And it worked! But the price was high.

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