This bird's eye perspective map was produced by Prussian-born cartographer Albert Ruger under his Chicago Lithographing Company in 1869. It shows the town as it started to experience a period of growth and transformation as residents from the American South flocked to the Midwest eager for economic opportunities as manufacturing jobs became readily available during the early portions of the industrial revolution. Urbana was first settled in 1822 and was a primarily agricultural community with vast farms being established surrounding the city's incorporated boundaries. Urbana maintains a classic small-town community feel and is host to numerous summer festivals, farmers' markets, and is home to the University of Illinois, Urbana-Champaign. Ruger's bird's eye perspectives were among some of the first of this style to be made in the United States, and he was an early pioneer of the form that would go on to inspire numerous other prolific lithographers and cartographers, including Henry Wellge, J.J. Stoner, and Beck & Pauli with whom he would later collaborate. Panoramic maps have a distinctive style and unique aesthetic that is immediately recognizable and transports the viewer back in time, creating an indelible bond between the past and present. As the nation recovered following the conclusion of the American Civil War, towns like Urbana became popular destinations, and numerous neighbourhoods and communities were established based on cultural heritage, many of which exist today. This map is an authentic piece of American cartographical history that depicts a classic American small town during a period of growth.
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