The Measure of Manhattan: The Tumultuous Career and Surprising Legacy of John Randel, Jr., Cartographer, Surveyor, Inventor

by Marguerite Holloway

"Randel is endlessly fascinating, and Holloway’s biography tells his life with great skill." —Steve Weinberg, USA Today

John Randel Jr. (1787–1865) was an eccentric and flamboyant surveyor. Renowned for his inventiveness as well as for his bombast and irascibility, Randel was central to Manhattan’s development but died in financial ruin. Telling Randel’s engrossing and dramatic life story for the first time, this eye-opening biography introduces an unheralded pioneer of American engineering and mapmaking.

Charged with “gridding” what was then an undeveloped, hilly island, Randel recorded the contours of Manhattan down to the rocks on its shores. He was obsessed with accuracy and steeped in the values of the Enlightenment, in which math and science promised dominion over nature. The result was a series of maps, astonishing in their detail and precision, which undergird our knowledge about the island today. During his varied career Randel created surveying devices, designed an early elevated subway, and proposed a controversial alternative route for the Erie Canal—winning him admirers and enemies.

The Measure of Manhattan is more than just the life of an unrecognized engineer. It is about the ways in which surveying and cartography changed the ground beneath our feet. Bringing Randel’s story into the present, Holloway travels with contemporary surveyors and scientists trying to envision Manhattan as a wild island once again.

Illustrated with dozens of historical images and antique maps, The Measure of Manhattan is an absorbing story of a fascinating man that captures the era when Manhattan—indeed, the entire country—still seemed new, the moment before canals and railroads helped draw a grid across the American landscape.

Genres: History, Biography, Nonfiction, New York, American History, Science, Economics

385 pages, Kindle Edition

First published February 18, 2013

About the author

Marguerite Holloway is is a professor at Columbia University’s Graduate School of Journalism and has written for the New York Times and the New Yorker, among other publications. She is the author of Take to the Trees and The Measure of Manhattan, and she lives in New York.

Reviews

[Stash · Rating 2 out of 5]

I should have read the title of the book more closely. This was less a book on the development of the Manhattan grid and more of a biography of John Randel, Jr.

[Dennis Garone · Rating 4 out of 5]

As a very novice historian of Manhattan, I have been intrigued by the city plan and the grid. It was Randel who provide the detailed surveys of the land before and set the expectation the city would follow.

Holloway presents the very complex man in an enjoyable read that also shows a man involved in so many projects. I need to take a run to the New York Historical Museum to get a look at some of his farm maps of Manhattan.

[Donna · Rating 2 out of 5]

I expected a book that dealt with how Manhattan got to be the way it is...
While this book does that to a certain extent, it spends a great deal of time detailing the life John Randel, Jr. Perhaps I should have paid closer attention to the subtitle--because that is what occupied the bulk of the book.
I am still wondering how Manhattan got to be the way it is.

[Mike Calabrese · Rating 4 out of 5]

A Good Biography but...

It tended to go into too much detail about Randall. Also, the author would occasionally throw in some contemporary characters that I felt weren't needed. But, overall, it was interesting to learn about the person that surveyed New York City.

[Rhonda · Rating 3 out of 5]

The book is about the work of the man who made the famous map of the street grid of Manhattan, before the street grid existed on the ground.

[Tom · Rating 4 out of 5]

All at once meandering, broad in scope, and inspirational

[Makayla · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book is full of detail and set the scene for environments past and present, ever intertwined. I benefited from learning about surveying, and enjoyed the biographical elements about a passionate and interesting person.

[Brian Gowthorpe · Rating 4 out of 5]

A most interesting and unusual book; I learned a lot.

[James Gale · Rating 3 out of 5]

As much a book about work ethic and hard headedness as anything else

[Eugene Leventhal · Rating 2 out of 5]

This book offers some very interesting insights into the development of the grid system in NYC, a topic that initially lured me to this book based on the title and cover. I have a (potentially questionable) habit of wanting to know as little as possible about a book before I read it, so I was unaware that this book was focused more on Randel's life and work that was limited to New York. Though he is clearly someone who deserves more historic recognition then he gets, I was not particularly looking to read into the history of surveying/canal or railroad building in upstate New York, so there were parts of the book that I was much less interested in.

The book is written decently and does a good job talking about Randel's life. There were many interesting facts in the book and a few things (the Manahatta (sp?) project and Manhattan in Maps) that I want to look into after reading this. I only rated the book so low because I am just not that interested in the topics it covered outside of the history of NYC

[Elizabeth · Rating 3 out of 5]

I wanted this book to be more than it is. John Randel, Jr. is the surveyor responsible for the New York grid system which has defined the city for two centuries. His compulsive nature gave us the grid the way it is today...carefully measured, right angles correct, departing from the system only when topography or previous streets intervened. This part of the book is most interesting.

Randel seems to have been at the top of his field as far as accuracy and detail were concerned. However, he didn't understand human nature very well. When people who monied interest wanted a canal placed where it worked best for them rather than for the state (county or city), he didn't get it. Much of the book is concerned with lawsuits he engaged in to get his payment. One famous one dragged on for years before it was finally settled in his favor.

John Randel, Jr. deserves to be remembered for his work and this book does it well, it was simply too academic for my taste.

[Susan · Rating 1 out of 5]

As an NYC-phile, I was excited to read about the history behind its layout. However, I stopped reading this book 87 pages in because the text was hard to follow and of low interest. The author repeats herself - she described the same tangential story twice. That kind of thing irritates me. She also uses pronouns too much after introducing new people. I had to go back and reread frequently to determine which "he" she was talking about. What I wanted to get out of this book was an appreciation for the historical significance of Manhattan's layout. Were I to keep reading, I might attain that. However, the book is too dry to warrant any more time reading.

For anyone interested in the history of surveying, specifically the instruments used in the post-colonial era, this book will be a good read.

[Thomas · Rating 2 out of 5]

I wanted to enjoy this book so badly. It's an inherently interesting subject, and knowing something of the author, I was hoping that I would be unable to put the book down. While it's clear that the author had great passion for her research, the book came across as a dry read, and she was unable to distill that passion into something more pleasurable. After the book sat untouched on my nightstand for several weeks, I knew it was time to move on.

I'm sorry, Ms. Holloway. I'll give your next book an honest try.

[Alasdair Craig · Rating 4 out of 5]

As a surveyor I can't help but like this interesting book about a fascinating person. I like how it's correct in the survey details, not over-simplified. It gets very scholarly in parts and the final third almost too much so. Wonderful to have researchers like Holloway who allow us to remember times, places and people such as with this one.

[Suzanne (suz&mark) · Rating 1 out of 5]

The premise of this book was very good but it was so dry it read like a textbook. I thought at least there would be some cool older maps to look at but they are printed so small in the book you need a magnifying glass.

[Marc · Rating 3 out of 5]

This is a good biography of John Randel, one of the most persistent surveyors of Manhattan, and whose work paved the way for the Manhattan street grid. Those thinking this book is about the how the grid came to pass might be disappointed, as it comprises a relatively minor portion of the story.

[David R. · Rating 3 out of 5]

Holloway does what she can with the poorly documented John Randel, Jr. but this fascinating character cannot sustain a whole book. Hence the author inserts (at odd intervals) rather less interesting content concerning modern GIS cartographers and their search for Randel's lost survey markers.

[Marshall Robinson]

A great history of an interesting character, his time in history (early 1880s) and most importantly, of NYC. This is the story of the layout of the NYC grid as we know it today.

[Nick Jones · Rating 2 out of 5]

Started strong but did not sustain momentum

[Daniel Farabaugh · Rating 4 out of 5]

This was a very enjoyable book explaining the life and contributions of Randel to the mapping of NY. The only place where it falls short is towards the end when the author makes more general musing.

[Jeffrey · Rating 2 out of 5]

When I could not sleep.... This author s writting about moe thing I really care about but his narrative lacks cohesion and is hard to follow.

[Glenn · Rating 4 out of 5]

So far so good, my expectations are on the high side because I love learning origin stories about my home.