Map Title:
"New Plan of the City and its Environs"
Created by:
Charles P. Varle
Map Year:
1802
Description:
In 1802, a geographer and engineer, Charles P. Varle, published a map of the city and county of Philadelphia which he titled, "New Plan of the City and its Environs." It included an idealized view of the future expansion of the city into West Philadelphia, with West Philadelphia streets following the city’s grid pattern as well as its practice of city squares dedicated to public use. Varle’s map called for three public spaces along High (now Market) Street — a Market Square, Washington Square, and an unnamed oval — and also located the country houses of the Penn, Bingham, Powel, and Hamilton families. West Philadelphia’s development eventually followed the city’s grid pattern, but it did not include Varle’s proposed city squares.
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