
The Underground Map is a project which is creating street histories for the areas of London and surrounding counties lying inside the M25.
In a series of maps from the 1750s until the 1950s, you can see how London grew from a city which only reached as far as Park Lane into the post war megapolis we know today. There are now over 85 000 articles on all variety of locations including roads, houses, schools, pubs and palaces.
You can begin exploring by choosing a place from the dropdown list at the top left and then clicking Reset Location.
As maps are displayed, click on the markers to view location articles.
You can also view historical maps of London - click on the "pile of paper" control on the top right of a page's map to change to a particular decade.
Latest on The Underground Map...

Chester Road lies to the north of the Blackfen Road. In the early 1930s, estates of houses and bungalows were being built in the area by C. R. Leech, Wates and New Ideal Homesteads.
Buying a new house in the area was an exciting business and show house viewing (even for those not intending to purchase) was a popular weekend occupation for many who lived in the inner London suburbs.
Many families who moved here were attracted by modern houses with gardens, fresh air and space. Many of the 1930s houses though were small and even had outside toilets.
»more Mayplace Road East, DA7
Mayplace Road East was an old lane leading east from Barnehurst In 1750 Miles Barne inherited a large estate: May Place.
’Barnehurst’ was an artificial name created for the local railway station from the family name. The area was previously agricultural - a mix of market gardens, orchards and woodland. A settlement was concentrated along Mayplace Road. Only with the electrification of the railway in 1926 did the large housing developments of the 1920s and 1930s start to appear.
In 1926, the developer W H Wedlock Ltd started to build on the site of Mayplace Farm and based on Oakwood Drive.
W H Wedlock Ltd developed the ’Mayplace Estate’ between Erith Road and Barnehurst Avenue only after 1932 as the underlying land was more difficult to develop.
The Barne family finally disposed of May Place in 1938, selling it to Crayford Urban District Council for £24,500.
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Boxmoor Street, W11
Boxmoor Street was also known as Henry Place and Beaumont Street during its brief life It ran west from Norland Road and started its life in the 1840s. The western end was originally the Counter’s Creek rivulet, later superseded by the track of the West London Railway.
By the 1930s, Boxmoor Street was described as "a little road off the Norland Market in Shepherd’s Bush". Its entrance was located opposite the Stewards Arms pub.
It was quite unique as it was part of W11 lying within the London Borough of Hammersmith and Fulham. The M41 (West Cross Route) motorway was built over the top of the street.
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Waterloo Street, EC1V
Waterloo Street once ran from Lever Street to Radnor Street The modern layout of Galway Street still includes the part of the line of Waterloo Street and nearby Murton Street.
The original street dates from around 1829 and like other streets of similar name, commemorates Wellington’s 1815 victory. The whole area was redeveloped for the Pleydell Estate in 1965.
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Dupont Street, E14
Dupont Street ran from Maroon Street to Burn Street Limehouse was a large, important London port in the medieval period. It specialised in production such as rope making and shipbuilding rather than cargo handling. In 1600, it was estimated that half of the population of 2000 who lived in Limehouse had a seafaring connection.
Dupont Street seems to have been built as Catherine Place during the 1820s. The name Dupont Street replaced Burn Street before 1912 though on the 1900 map, both names appear simultaneously. The street contained a pub - the Devonshire Arms - at 10 Dupont Street.
Well into the twentieth century, Dupont Street was a classed as a slum.
During the 1990s, Dupont Street was replaced by Shaw Crescent which was built over the top of it.
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