After the Civil War, a proliferation of published views recorded large cities, small hamlets, industrial complexes, and other scenes of progress. A new aerial perspective emphasized individual buildings but also required precise documentation of street plans and architectural details on the part of the artist. This large-scale, hand-painted version of Thomas Kingsford’s Starch Factory in Oswego, New York, may have been commissioned as the prototype for a lithograph, but more probably it was copied from one of the many existing prints of the factory that were produced for advertising purposes and for decorating its offices.

Kingsford was renowned for discovering a process for making high-quality cornstarch from Indian corn. His first factory was established in Jersey City, New Jersey, in 1846, and incorporated in Oswego by 1848. Its location on the banks of the Oswego River facilitated the distribution of the starch products. By the 1870s, the factory was producing thirty-five tons of cornstarch per day, was employing one-third of the American workers in the industry, and was the largest company of its type in the world. The complex—almost a small town—consisted of the starch factory, a box factory, a machine shop, a carpentry shop, various storehouses, several other outbuildings, and its own fire company, all of which combined for twelve acres of floor and five acres of roof.

Stacy C. Hollander, "Oswego Starch Factory," in American Anthem: Masterworks from the American Folk Art Museum (New York: Harry N. Abrams in association with American Folk Art Museum, 2001), 354.