Environs of Chicago, Illinois presents a crisply observed portrait of the metropolis and its lakeshore hinterland at a defining 1909 moment. Along the wide arc of Lake Michigan, the city’s shoreline is rendered with Bartholomew’s trademark clarity, anchoring the viewer at the water’s edge and guiding the eye inland through an orderly yet dynamic urban fabric. Government Pier marks the engineered threshold between lake and city, emblematic of the era’s harbor ambitions. To the north, the map carries the gaze through South and North Evanston, signaling the reach of Chicago’s suburban orbit; to the south and south‑east, it gathers Hyde Park and Jackson Park into view, revealing a city composed of distinctive districts knit together by grand arterials and a maturing park-and-boulevard vision.

Bartholomew’s composition excels as a city map because it makes the street system itself the protagonist. The famed grid appears as a rational scaffold—Western, Ashland, Kedzie, Cicero, and Harlem Avenues marching north–south—while a set of diagonals lends historical memory and movement to the plan. Milwaukee, Lincoln, Elston, and Ogden Avenues slice across right angles, their oblique courses hinting at older trails and overland routes. East–west spines—Madison and West Madison, Roosevelt, 18th and 22nd, 31st and 47th, Addison and Bryn Mawr—organize neighborhoods into legible strata. Michigan Avenue and State Street, the city’s emblematic commercial axes, stand out as urban theaters, while Clark, Racine, Cottage Grove, Pulaski, and Grand Avenue stitch together residential, industrial, and mercantile zones.

Neighborhood character emerges vividly. Hyde Park and Jackson Park form a cultured lakefront duo: Jackson Park, still resonant with the 1893 World’s Columbian Exposition, opens as a green amphitheater to the lake, with Hyde Park’s intellectual milieu set just inland. Government Pier, projecting at the river mouth, testifies to federal harbor works and the deepening exchange between inland markets and Great Lakes shipping. Farther north, South Evanston and North Evanston register as coherent communities, urban yet verdant along the shore. Along Cottage Grove Avenue and the numbered streets on the South Side, the map captures corridors of growth and civic investment, while Douglas Boulevard on the West Side gestures toward the city’s celebrated park-and-boulevard system and the consolidation of residential districts around generous public space.

The map’s authority rests on John Bartholomew’s consummate craft. Issued by John Bartholomew & Co., Edinburgh, for the Handy Reference Atlas of the World—edited by J. G. Bartholomew and published by John Walker & Co., London—it exemplifies the firm’s synthesis of aesthetics and analytics. Distinctive color blocks heighten legibility without crowding the page; typography is tuned to hierarchy, allowing major avenues to read instantly while secondary streets remain crisp. The lake’s cool tone acts as a compositional anchor, against which the warm urban palette breathes. This cosmopolitan production places Chicago on a global stage: a Scottish cartographer distilling an American city’s infrastructure with the even-handed precision that made Bartholomew atlases indispensable to travelers, scholars, and planners alike.

Historically, the sheet is a snapshot taken on the threshold of modern planning. Published the same year as the Plan of Chicago, it fixes the city just before Burnham’s civic vision began reshaping boulevards, parks, and the monumental lakefront. As a city map it is notable for how clearly it registers Chicago’s organizing logic—State Street and Madison Street as cardinal axes, the audacious grid reaching to the limits, and diagonals like Ogden and Milwaukee encoding earlier mobility systems. It charts suburban consolidation up the shore to Evanston and marks maritime modernization at Government Pier, while east–west arteries such as Madison, Roosevelt, and 31st demonstrate how commerce and neighborhoods braided together. The result is a lucid, time-true portrait of a city poised for transformation.

Streets and roads on this map

• Addison
• Archer Avenue
• Ashland Avenue
• Bryn Mawr Avenue
• Clark Street
• Cottage Grove Avenue
• Damen Avenue
• Douglas Boulevard
• Elston Avenue
• Grand Avenue
• Harlem Avenue
• Kedzie Avenue
• Lincoln Avenue
• Madison Street
• Michigan Avenue
• Milwaukee Avenue
• Ogden Avenue
• Old Town Road
• Pulaski Road
• Racine Avenue
• Roosevelt Road
• State Street
• Western Avenue
• West Madison Street
• 18th Street
• 22nd Street
• 31st Street
• 47th Street

Notable Features & Landmarks

• Lake Michigan
• Various neighborhoods and districts of Chicago
• Government Pier
• Jackson Park
• Hyde Park
• South Evanston
• North Evanston

Historical and design context

• Date created: 1909
• Mapmaker/publisher: Created by John Bartholomew; issued by John Bartholomew & Co., Edinburgh, for the Handy Reference Atlas of the World (edited by J. G. Bartholomew) and published by John Walker & Co., London.
• Mapmaker context: John Bartholomew was known for detailed, informative, and aesthetically pleasing maps with clear labeling and distinctive color schemes.
• Topics and themes: Illustrates early 20th-century urban planning and infrastructure, highlighting roadways, notable landmarks, and districts in the Chicago area.
• Design/style: Characteristic, readable Bartholomew style with an antique-appropriate color palette that enhances legibility.
• Historical significance: Visual documentation of Chicago’s urban landscape during a period of significant growth and development.

Please double check the images to make sure that a specific town or place is shown on this map. You can also get in touch and ask us to check the map for you.

This map looks great at every size, but I always recommend going for a larger size if you have space. That way you can easily make out all of the details.

This map looks amazing at sizes all the way up to 90in (230cm). If you are looking for a larger map, please get in touch.

This map is taller than most, which would make it a perfect statement piece in a panelled room, on a gallery wall, or perhaps alongside another tall piece of art or furniture.

The fifth listing image shows an example of my map personalisation service.

If you’re looking for something slightly different, check out my collection of the best old maps to see if something else catches your eye.

Please contact me to check if a certain location, landmark or feature is shown on this map.

This would make a wonderful birthday, Christmas, Father's Day, work leaving, anniversary or housewarming gift for someone from the areas covered by this map.

This map is available as a giclée print on acid free archival matte paper, or you can buy it framed. The frame is a nice, simple black frame that suits most aesthetics. Please get in touch if you'd like a different frame colour or material. My frames are glazed with super-clear museum-grade acrylic (perspex/acrylite), which is significantly less reflective than glass, safer, and will always arrive in perfect condition.

This map is also available as a float framed canvas, sometimes known as a shadow gap framed canvas or canvas floater. The map is printed on artist's cotton canvas and then stretched over a handmade box frame. We then "float" the canvas inside a wooden frame, which is available in a range of colours (black, dark brown, oak, antique gold and white). This is a wonderful way to present a map without glazing in front. See some examples of float framed canvas maps and explore the differences between my different finishes.

For something truly unique, this map is also available in "Unique 3D", our trademarked process that dramatically transforms the map so that it has a wonderful sense of depth. We combine the original map with detailed topography and elevation data, so that mountains and the terrain really "pop". For more info and examples of 3D maps, check my Unique 3D page.

For most orders, delivery time is about 3 working days. Personalised and customised products take longer, as I have to do the personalisation and send it to you for approval, which usually takes 1 or 2 days.

Please note that very large framed orders usually take longer to make and deliver. 

If you need your order to arrive by a certain date, please contact me before you order so that we can find the best way of making sure you get your order in time.

I print and frame maps and artwork in 23 countries around the world. This means your order will be made locally, which cuts down on delivery time and ensures that it won't be damaged during delivery. You'll never pay customs or import duty, and we'll put less CO2 into the air.

All of my maps and art prints are well packaged and sent in a rugged tube if unframed, or surrounded by foam if framed.

I try to send out all orders within 1 or 2 days of receiving your order, though some products (like face masks, mugs and tote bags) can take longer to make.

If you select Express Delivery at checkout your order we will prioritise your order and send it out by 1-day courier (Fedex, DHL, UPS, Parcelforce).

Next Day delivery is also available in some countries (US, UK, Singapore, UAE) but please try to order early in the day so that we can get it sent out on time.

Read my full delivery and local production guide

My standard frame is a gallery style black ash hardwood frame. It is simple and quite modern looking. My standard frame is around 20mm (0.8in) wide.

I use super-clear acrylic (perspex/acrylite) for the frame glass. It's lighter and safer than glass - and it looks better, as the reflectivity is lower.

Six standard frame colours are available for free (black, dark brown, dark grey, oak, white and antique gold). Custom framing and mounting/matting is available if you're looking for something else.

Most maps, art and illustrations are also available as a framed canvas. We use matte (not shiny) cotton canvas, stretch it over a sustainably sourced box wood frame, and then 'float' the piece within a wood frame. The end result is quite beautiful, and there's no glazing to get in the way.

All frames are provided "ready to hang", with either a string or brackets on the back. Very large frames will have heavy duty hanging plates and/or a mounting baton. If you have any questions, please get in touch.

See some examples of my framed maps and framed canvas maps.

Alternatively, I can also supply old maps and artwork on canvas, foam board, cotton rag and other materials.

If you want to frame your map or artwork yourself, please read my size guide first.

My maps are extremely high quality reproductions of original maps.

I source original, rare maps from libraries, auction houses and private collections around the world, restore them at my London workshop, and then use specialist giclée inks and printers to create beautiful maps that look even better than the original.

My maps are printed on acid-free archival matte (not glossy) paper that feels very high quality and almost like card. In technical terms the paper weight/thickness is 10mil/200gsm. It's perfect for framing.

I print with Epson ultrachrome giclée UV fade resistant pigment inks - some of the best inks you can find.

I can also make maps on canvas, cotton rag and other exotic materials.

Learn more about The Unique Maps Co.

Map personalisation

If you're looking for the perfect anniversary or housewarming gift, I can personalise your map to make it truly unique. For example, I can add a short message, or highlight an important location, or add your family's coat of arms.

The options are almost infinite. Please see my map personalisation page for some wonderful examples of what's possible.

To order a personalised map, select "personalise your map" before adding it to your basket.

Get in touch if you're looking for more complex customisations and personalisations.

Map ageing

I have been asked hundreds of times over the years by customers if they could buy a map that looks even older.

Well, now you can, by selecting Aged before you add a map to your basket.

All the product photos you see on this page show the map in its Original form. This is what the map looks like today.

If you select Aged, I will age your map by hand, using a special and unique process developed through years of studying old maps, talking to researchers to understand the chemistry of aging paper, and of course... lots of practice!

If you're unsure, stick to the Original colour of the map. If you want something a bit darker and older looking, go for Aged.

See some amazing examples of Aged maps.

If you are not happy with your order for any reason, contact me and I'll get it fixed ASAP, free of charge. Please see my returns and refund policy for more information.

I am very confident you will like your restored map or art print. I have been doing this since 1984. I'm a 5-star Etsy seller. I have sold tens of thousands of maps and art prints and have over 5,000 real 5-star reviews. My work has been featured in interior design magazines, on the BBC, and on the walls of dozens of 5-star hotels.

I use a unique process to restore maps and artwork that is massively time consuming and labour intensive. Hunting down the original maps and illustrations can take months. I use state of the art and eye-wateringly expensive technology to scan and restore them. As a result, I guarantee my maps and art prints are a cut above the rest. I stand by my products and will always make sure you're 100% happy with what you receive.

Almost all of my maps and art prints look amazing at large sizes (200cm, 6.5ft+) and I can frame and deliver them to you as well, via special oversized courier. Contact me to discuss your specific needs.