Maps: Yeah, Yeah, Yeah

I was raised in a small town outside the city of Albany, New York. The name of the town is Old England, and on many updated maps, does not show. Why? The answer is politics. As you may or may not know, the foremost map-making corporation in the world is Rand McNally. When the company first started back in 1856, they wanted their world-wide headquarters to be in Old England. The town mayor, Herbert Blimpton, and his council rejected the map company’s desire to set up shop within town limits. Rand McNally had no choice but to leave the area, and ultimately started their long domain of the industry in Chicago.

As a sort of vengeance, Old England is not featured on their maps. And if you look at the way the hills are drawn around Albany on topographic maps, you will notice they come together in a frowny face. The sad thing is that other map companies obviously just use the statistics and surveyors’ findings that Rand McNally uses. Therefore, Old England only appears on maps created before 1856. Most people think we’re just a small neighborhood in Albany. Just spend a few moments with any of us Old Englanders, though, and you’ll see that we don’t have the same cynicism and bravado of those who live in our state’s capital.

The mayor of Old England, 1856: Herbert Blimpton

The mayor of Old England, present: Herman Jacoby