Creation Location

This map represents the creation location

My observations:

It is clear that the majority of the Fraktur in this collection was created in southeastern Pennsylvania or in other words, in the area surrounding Philadelphia. This makes sense since Philadelphia has served as a hub for German immigrants in the 18th, 19th and even 20th century. My own relatives immigrated from Germany in the early 20th century and quickly settled into Philadelphia, where they found German speaking churches and social clubs. It is also worth noting that the Fraktur seem to be spread evenly throughout the countryside, instead of being concentrated around large cities. This might be attributed to the fact that many of the early German settlers worked as farmers when the first arrived.

One of the most interesting aspects of the Free Library’s collection can be clearly seen on this map: the diversity of its Fraktur creation locations. Fraktur in this collection come from as far West as Posey County, IN, as far North as Canada and Maine, as far South as Wake County, NC  and as far East as Erfurt, Germany.