History of Beers Maps
Frederick W. Beers was a prominent atlas and map publisher from the Beers family of cartographers. In 1867, then located at 95 Maiden Lane in Manhattan, Beers published his Atlas of New York and Vicinity, collaborating with A. D. Ellis and G. G. Soule. In 1870, Frederick joined his cousin, James Botsford Beers (b. 1811), in founding J. B. Beers & Company, in New York. As this suggests, the Beers family members sometimes worked individually, and other times in collaboration with each other and/or with other surveyors and publishers. Between 1865 and 1900, the Beers family and collaborators produced atlases of more than 80 counties in 10 states, including Vermont, Maine, Massachusetts, Pennsylvania, Ohio, New York and Michigan, as well as city atlases, separately issued maps, and county histories. F. W. Beers lived in Brooklyn, where he was also employed as head of the map division in the Brooklyn Office of Public Records for 35 years.
His long career continued until his retirement at the age of 90.
