{"value"=>"<p>The bulk of the land maps and surveys, which are arranged by block number and which are described on the Checklist of Land Maps and Surveys fall in the period from the 1840s to 1911. The bulk of the maps and surveys dated prior to 1892 were executed by James E. Serrell, city surveyor and civil engineer, who was employed by the Street Department of New York City and who also conducted his own private practice as a surveyor and civil engineer. The bulk of the maps and surveys dated between 1892 and 1905 were executed by Henry G. Opdycke and H. Serrell Thomson who were partners in the firm of Opdycke & Thomson, city surveyors and civil engineers. The firm acquired James E. Serrell's original maps, notes and surveys which they utilized in their own professional work. The bulk of the maps and surveys dated after March of 1905 (when the partnership was dissolved) were executed by Henry G. Opdycke. There are also a few maps and surveys (in the later period) executed by William R. Patrick who was also a surveyor and civil engineer.</p> <p>Filed with the maps and surveys especially in the earlier period (prior to 1892) are a variety of other papers including correspondence, notes, requests for surveys, copies of deeds; copies of court transcripts (involving litigation in which James E. Serrell appeared as an expert witness); assessment lists for street improvements (grading, paving, flagging, setting curbs and gutters), and for the building of sewers; and printed broadsides of auction sales. The correspondence (which includes a few copies of replies by Serrell) relates mainly to requests for maps and surveys from attorneys, landowners, architects, builders, merchants, realtors, and insurance companies.</p> <p>The maps and surveys executed by James E. Serrell include pen and ink drawings, frequently multicolored, on paper and on linen. Those executed by Opdycke & Thomson, by Henry G. Opdycke and by William R. Patrick are in the form of drafts on tissue paper and final blueprint drawings.</p> <p>Many of the maps and surveys executed by Serrell are keyed to his field notebooks by an annotation in the form of \"B\" followed by a number (e. g., \"B-30\" indicating field notebook #30).</p> <p>The maps and surveys are for streets, lots, and buildings in the Boroughs of Manhattan and the Bronx. Included are vault surveys, excavation surveys, possession surveys, and architects' surveys.</p>"}