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Map of Washington County, Maine 1861
Home Contents Original map Historical Sketch
An Historical
Sketch of The Map |
| The Topographical Map of the County of
Washington, Maine is an important historical document. It was the result of
the most comprehensive survey made to that date of most of the towns. The map pinpoints the names and locations of every
residence, workplace, church and school. |
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This map is one of several Maine county maps created in the 1850s-1860s -
a period of extraordinary map-making in America. Businessmen from New York
and Philadelphia were the leaders of the county map-making effort. Few
details of this map's origins are known, but we do know the general
methods used for these projects. Publication was announced in local
newspapers, and local offices were set up where advance orders for the new
map could be taken. A typical price was five dollars per copy. The map was printed on four separate sheets (probably on large stone
printing plates) and assembled and glued together onto a cloth backing.
Each copy was then hand-colored in several different hues, varnished, and
mounted on wooden rollers. |
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Roads were measured with a wheel odometer, similar to the wheelbarrow-like
device pictured here, or one drawn by horse and buggy. The surveyor would
ask the names of farmstead owners as he passed by, and would surely add a
brief sales pitch for the new map... |
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...after all, the map would carry the
name of the resident, engraved upon it.
The original road surveys for this
privately-produced map were the most comprehensive yet made. This map
served as the basis for later maps until the end of the century.
P.S. If you, dear reader, know any interesting
facts about the original publication of this map, or know of curious facts
depicted on it, please email the
publisher. I would like to add more information to make this text
more interesting...Thanks. D. Allen, March, 2003.
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