The "Who'd Of Thought?" Story

It was an ordinary day.  Looking at my Google Earth website and being totally amazed at what you can view on the site.  I found my home with a closeup of my car in the driveway.  The entire site reminds me of a 3D map with true-to-life images.  Actually, that's exactly what it is.  Just to make sure, I "Googled" 3D maps of cities and towns and came up with page after page of sites to visit on my search of 3D maps.  

Panoramic map of Columbia, PA.  Click to enlarge.

Then I came across something that really drew my attention.  Maps of cities that looked like they were hand-drawn in 3D during the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries.  Wasn't long before I found one particular artist who drew what looked to be 3D maps by the name of Thaddeus Mortimer Fowler; known primarily as T.M. Fowler.  What caught my attention about his hand-drawn maps was the fact that almost all the locations he drew were towns and cities in the state of Pennsylvania.  "Googled" him and was astonished with his life's story.  

T.M. Fowler

T.M. was born in 1842 in Lowell, Massachusetts and ran away from home at the age of 15.  Ended up in Buffalo, NY at the onset of the Civil War.  He tried to join the Union Troops, but was rejected because of his age.  Finally he talked his way into the service and two years later was wounded at the second Battle of Bull Run.  In 1863 he was discharged, but followed the soldiers into battle selling his tintypes to them.  He eventually moved to Madison, Wisconsin where he worked for his uncle John who was a photographer.  Then in 1868 he met Albert Ruger who drew panoramic works of cities.  Fowler eventually became Ruger's assistant and after learning all the necessary skills began to make them himself. He opened his own business in 1870.  Over the next 50 or so years, T.M. drew panoramic maps with startling accuracy that only a very few artists had the patience and skill to do this work.  These bird's-eye views of cities and towns were popular before aerial photography was possible.  Fowler would pick a town or city and walk the streets making drawings, sometimes multiple drawings, of every house, building, and store in the area.  

This enlarged portion of one of his maps shows the
incredible detail that he used in his work. Click to enlarge.

He would take notes as to the size and amount of windows, doors, stairwells, etc. in the structure as well as any architecturally significant features to the structure.  More than half of his maps were of the state of Pennsylvania.  During his career he made over 425 panoramic maps; 248 being of Pennsylvania.  It was in 1922, while surveying the town of Middleton, New York for his next map, that he slipped on a patch of ice and died a few days later at the age of seventy-nine.  He was buried in Riverside Cemetery in Trenton, New Jersey.  

Milersville, Pennsylvania

Toward the end of his career, when the airplane became popular, panoramic maps began to fade with the popularity of aerial photography.  I love his maps and the unbelievable detail that he illustrates while drawing them.  His artistic and mechanical skills are most impressive.  While looking at his map of Millersville, PA I was able to pick out a few of the buildings around the original Millersville State Teachers College Old Main where I had classes as well as the building where I had lunch most days.  What's strange is that the city of Lancaster is not one of his panoramics.  I realize that Google Earth is truly amazing, but T.M. Fowler's panoramic maps are just as amazing; at least to me!  It was another extraordinary day in the life of an ordinary guy.   PS - I have only included maps made of locations within a few miles of my home in Lancaster, PA.