Public Schools for
Young Americans

Albert Ruger (1829-1899)
Young America, Warren County, Illinois.
Madison, Wisconsin: Ruger and Stone, 1869
Color lithographic print
Geography & Map Division
Copyright deposit (104A.2)

This bird's-eye view map of Young America, Illinois, emphasizes the importance that nineteenth-century Americans placed on a free public education for their children. Also evident from this print is the town's grid street pattern, which echoes the nation's rectangular survey system in which section sixteen in every township was reserved for the benefit of financing public schools, one of the ideals of American democracy.