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Maps of North American cities in the 19th century included vignettes of famous structures, reflecting map-makers' notion of monumentality and civic virtues. The choice of these buildings was made by men of a certain class and race. The City of Baltimore, once famous as the "Monumental City," is a useful locus for reevaluating public monuments, with some monuments conflicting with recent public values, such as a statue of Supreme Court Justice Roger Taney. The urban landscape can be used as a "medium" for interpretation, suggesting alternative methods for reconfiguring existing monuments to benefit surrounding neighborhoods and public discourse. Civic monuments are legible markers for a particular period, location, and group of people, and their depictions can reflect a city's civic identity and values. The "Poppleton Map" of Baltimore, published in 1823, includes vignettes of significant architectural designs and monuments, expressing the city's civic enthusiasms and concerns. The map's illustrations of memorial monuments hold lessons for contemporary readers, including the concept of "displaced sanctification," where commemoration is removed from the original act or memory. The urban geography of city monuments and memorials can affect their message and civic role, and their placement, orientation, and relationships can be controlled to address competing messages and meanings inherited from the past.