Unbeknownst to many, historical maps sometimes contain fictitious streets or even entire 'paper towns.' What surprising secret reason did cartographers have for deliberately placing these non-existent features?

This practice, often called "trap streets" or "paper towns," has been a secret weapon for cartographers for ages. A prime example is Agloe, New York – a fictitious town conjured up in the 1930s by Otto G. Lindberg and Ernest Alpers of General Drafting Co. They popped it onto a map in the Catskill Mountains, purely as a copyright trap. Sure enough, a rival mapmaker, Rand McNally, later included Agloe on their own maps, providing clear evidence of copying. This 'paper town' even gained renewed fame through John Green's novel *Paper Towns*!