Not much is known now about Hagstrom Maps (by me at least) except that it was founded by Andrew Hagstrom in 1916. A Google search reveals today more listings for Hagstrom guitars than for Hagstrom maps. I wish the company would reveal more about its rich history. I interviewed for work there twice (1981, 1992) and was turned down twice. They would have been low-paying research jobs, but may have led someplace.
In 2010 I found this hand drawn map of northwest Brooklyn tacked onto a fence on Old Fulton Street. Until 1998, Hagstrom maps of the 5-boroughs still used the carefully rendered, hand-drawn templates from shortly after the company was founded in the 19-teens. After that, most of their maps, of the NYC area and surrounding regions in Long Island, Connecticut, New Jersey and southern NY State, were redrawn by a computer and while functional, aren’t nearly as esthetically pleasing.
Hagstrom also produced one of the finest Philadelphia maps ever made, but that was discontinued in the 1980s. In the 70s they also dabbled in computerized renderings of other towns from around the country such as Dallas and Atlanta, but they didn’t catch on and were discontinued. Of course, I have those in my collection.
11/29/12