Celebrate Henry Hudson on Google Maps

Henry Hudson 400

In 1609 English sea explorer Henry Hudson's third voyage to find the Northwest Passage led him to the east coast of North America. This landing set in motion the events that led to the purchase of “Mannahatta.”

In celebration of Henry Hudson's voyages the Henry Hudson 400 Foundation, with the help of Cartosoft, have created this amazing Google Maps mashup. The map includes historical maps of Hudson's voyages, early harbor and coastline illustrations, stories of the first New Yorkers and the routes Henry Hudson sailed.

The 'Origins' section of the map provides links to a number of stories of the first settlers in New York. The section also includes a function for anyone to upload any Dutch ancestry stories that they know.

The 'Historical Maps' section lets the map user add a number of historical map overlays to the Google Map. The overlays includes historical maps of early New York and historical maps of Amsterdam. There is also the option to view the historical maps in a 'side by side view' which lets you examine the historical map alongside the present day Google Map of the same location.

At the top left corner of the map there is a button to hide the map side panel and a 'Large Maps' button which expands the map to fill the whole of the screen. This is very useful when you wish to view the historical maps and when viewing large areas of the world.

Here be Dragons

The Henry Hudson 400 map also comes with a hidden Easter egg. If you search along Henry Hudson's third voyage route you may just find a roaring sea serpent. If you roll your mouse over the monster it actually roars and blows smoke!

As well as creating this map the Henry Hudson 400 Foundation is also organising a number of special events to commemorate Henry Hudson’s explorations. These include:

• A South Street Seaport ancient maps exhibit begins in early Sept.
• A sponsored Water Forum in Sept
• A Dutch bulbs display at The New York Botanical Garden with over 50,000 flowering bulbs in the Enid A. Haupt Conservatory

You can find out more about these special events at the Foundation's Events page.

Via: Google LatLong: 400 Years in the Making: Celebrating Henry Hudson

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