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Unfortunately, not all of our towns and cities were subject matter for the cartographic artists, and many are not recorded in this fashion. The Library of Congress explains these maps in this manner...The Panoramic map was a popular cartographic form used to depict American cities and towns during the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries. Known also as perspective maps, bird's-eye-views, panoramas, and aero views, these maps are non-photographic representations of cities, portrayed as if viewed from above at an oblique angle. Although not usually drawn to scale, they show street patterns, individual buildings, and major landscape features in perspective.
Panoramic maps graphically depict the vibrant,
exciting life of a city. Harbors are shown choked with ships,
trains speed along railroad tracks, people and horse-drawn carriages
fill the streets, and smoke belches from stacks of industrial
plants. Urban and industrial development in post-Civil War America
is vividly portrayed on the maps.
Preparation of panoramic maps involved labor of painstaking detail. For each project a frame was developed, showing in perspective the pattern of streets. The artist then walked the streets, sketching the buildings, trees, and other features to present a completely accurate landscape as though seen from an elevation of 2,000 to 3,000 feet.