The shaded city blocks on this 1854 map indicate that the front edge of development has reached about 50th Street. Broadway sharply cuts across the grid from Union Square to Seventh Avenue, where it devolves into the lolling course of Bloomingdale Road. On the eve of the creation of Central Park, the rough topography north of the Croton reservoir, which will be subsumed in the park, is evident. The map suggests the rectilinear outline of the park at the north end.