This is a map created in 1918 showing the city of Jaffa with the small neighbourhood of Tel Aviv (written Tel Abib) to the north-east. The map shows details of the buildings, neighbourhoods, and other sites that existed at the time. It is interesting to note the items on which the British focused when creating the map: the route of the railway stations, mosques, churches, cemeteries, farmland, public institutions, hospitals, and others. The Mediterranean Sea is shown east of Jaffa with details such as the Andromeda Rock opposite the city. Much of the map is unmarked or without description. This implies that much of the land was empty or perhaps used for agriculture.
The map shows the early stages of Tel Aviv that had been established in 1909, nine years before the map was drawn. Tel Aviv is shown as a small neighbourhood, much smaller than the established city of Jaffa, and a few of its roads are marked, such as Juda Halevi , Lillienblum, Rothschild Avenue, Achad Ha’am, and Montefiore. The only buildings marked in Tel Aviv are the Gymnasium (the Herzliya Gymnasium –Tel Aviv’s first high school), the H.Q. (headquarters of the Zionist Commission), and the cinema (probably the Eden Cinema, the first in Tel Aviv). Bordering Tel Aviv was the Walhalla Quarter – the German Colony that contained a German school, a music school, a factory, YMCA, and additional buildings.
Jews also lived in Jaffa as can be seen by the Jewish hospital, the synagogue, and the “Alliance Israelite” building that appears in the Menshieh neighbourhood of Jaffa. The names of the different buildings reflect the international interest in Jaffa and Israel with each country attempting to gain influence in the region through their national institutions. Examples include the German Colony, French Hospital, Armenian Catholic Cemetery, British Consulate, Greek Church, Italian Convent and Church, and Anglo Palestine Co.
This map, from the year 1918, was produced by the British shortly after they captured the area from the Ottoman Turks. This map was part of a series of maps that accompanied the transition from military to civilian mandate over Palestine.
