Reflecting on Maps at the Brooklyn Historical Society

As a class we got the opportunity to learn about Brooklyn’s history together. The day we went to the Brooklyn Historical Society was exciting and very different for me being as though I am not from Brooklyn. We got to learn about a lot of different maps throughout the history of Brooklyn. It was interesting to see how many different perspectives of what Brooklyn looked like. To see what Brooklyn used to look like in the past and how it looks now makes everything seem so real. Some of the maps were weird the way that they were created, come looked like someone drew and colored it with crayons, another with blocks all over it. The maps all seemed that someone had put a lot of detail into making sure that the map was accurate. It was funny to see that they all had something special about them. What was really strange to me was how the compass was positioned on some of the maps, it wasn’t facing the usual way as the maps we see today. As the years past i could see that the maps started to look better and more accurate. Even the subway line on a map was cool because i take the subway to school today and some of the stops were still the same on the train. As a class we got to work together and it felt more comfortable because we were all learning something new at the same time. Having experts that worked at the Brooklyn Historical Society gave us more information than a map ever could. They explained everything on the map and the time period of when each particular was made. Ultimately my trip to the Brooklyn Historical Society was an eye opening experience to the history of Brooklyn.