Col. Egbert L. Viele's "water map" of 1874 has been used for over a century as a reference for the location of old watercourses. Though Manhattan's natural topography was already much changed by 1874, Viele used historic maps and surveys to reconstruct the original hydrology of Manhattan Island, which is shown in great detail underneath the current street grid.
To see a high-res and flash-zoomable version of this map, go to http://kottke.org/plus/viele-map/
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