Putting the Game on the Map

Beginning in the late nineteenth century, well-appointed American cities proudly featured their landmarks, amenities, and natural landscape in painstakingly drawn “birds eye view” illustrated maps. This one of Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, shows a ballpark (including the players) in the lower left, on the banks of the Allegheny River. Ballparks were often located next to other public attractions, such as fairgrounds and waterfronts, and to transportation hubs, including rail stations and river landings.