1879 Bethel Connecticut Map | Historic Bird’s-Eye View

This vintage map of Bethel, Connecticut was created in 1879 by O.H. Bailey & Co., one of the most prominent bird’s-eye view map makers of the 19th century. This restored and edition brings historic Bethel to life while preserving the original linework, street names, homes, churches, railroads, hat factories, hills, roads, landmarks, and small-town details shown on the original map.

About This Historic Map

Drawn from an elevated bird’s-eye perspective, this map presents Bethel as it looked in 1879, a few decades after the town separated from Danbury and incorporated on its own in 1855. By the late 19th century, Bethel had become a thriving hat-making community, part of the greater Danbury region that produced more fur felt hats than anywhere else in America. The map’s own legend tells the story: more than half of the numbered landmarks are hat manufacturers, from Orrin Benedict & Co. and the two Hickok firms to the Hat Forming Co., reflecting an industry that employed much of the town and shaped its streets and factories.

The view looks across the hills and streets of Bethel, showing a town in the middle of its growth. Homes and residential neighborhoods spread outward from a compact commercial center of groceries, hotels, churches, and shops, all tied to the wider world by the Danbury & Norwalk Railroad and the telegraph office at its depot. The newly completed Eureka Water Works, established in 1878, marked the town’s arrival as a modern community with its own public water supply. Captured in remarkable detail are Bethel’s homes, businesses, public buildings, mills, churches, and surrounding countryside as they stood at this pivotal moment.

Notable landmarks shown on the map include the Post Office, Telegraph Office, Danbury & Norwalk Railroad Station, Fox Brothers’ Hotel, Bethel House, Public School Buildings, Orrin Benedict & Co. Fur Hat Manufacturers, E.T. Farnham & Co. Fur Hat Manufacturers, Cole & Ambler Fur Hat Manufacturers, Geo. C. Durant Fine Stiff Hat Manufacturer, Judd & Co. Fur Hat Manufacturers, G.A. Hickok & Son Fur Hat Manufacturers, H.E. Hickok & Co. Fur Hat Manufacturers, the Hat Forming Company, Theodore Clark Paper Box Manufacturer, Gilbert Brothers Planing Mill, the Bethel Press, Eureka Water Works, and more.

A statement piece for any room, this reproduction is printed using KNOWOL’s restored and colorized version of the 1879 Bethel, Connecticut map, the first restored and colorized edition of this historic map known to exist.