William W. Barker, Plan of the City of Philadelphia (1800)

In 1800, William Birch published a portfolio showcasing the city of Philadelphia to highlight for people of Europe the development of the United States in an effort to help them see the country's established trade and commerce, and convince them to settle there. This map of the grid plan for the streets of Philadelphia, created by William Barker, was one of the many images included in Birch’s portfolio. At the time, Philadelphia was one of the most populous and rapidly developing cities in the United States. In 1908, as a tribute to Birch’s work, the Western National Bank created a reproduction of his celebrated historical views of Philadelphia, which is linked here.