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This is the Introductory text to the
1858 portfolio (verbatim from the title page)
 This
is a complete reproduction of the 1858 Map of Cheshire County, N.H. The original,
pictured overleaf, is a large wall map measuring 25 square feet. Here it is
reproduced on 36 pages of
fine quality alkaline stock, buffered to withstand the acidity which today is so
destructive of printed matter. Orientation is to magnetic north (a second
version of the same map was oriented to true north - we have reproduced the
original).
 The
map depicts Cheshire County at a turning point, though the residents of the time
surely lacked our perspective. The railroad, which had come to Keene 10 years
earlier, was accelerating the trend away from self-sufficiency and toward
specialized agriculture and industry. The outbreak of war between North and
South in 1861 would further wrench the local economy by rewarding the production
of beef and wool, and by creating boom conditions at the large woolen mills of
Troy, Swanzey, Harrisville, and Keene. Yet the map shows small manufactories in
most villages, usually on running water; and on the
hills the names of the independent farmers, beside the sites which today in many
cases are only stone foundations.
The 18 tinted pages are printed at the
original scale of l 1/2 inches to the mile. This allows the reader to recreate
the body of the map in whole or in part. The detail maps of the villages are
enlarged by one-half for clarity, and several of their line borders have been
moved for reasons of space. The city of Keene is increased in size by
one-quarter in the present edition. Some modest retouching has been necessary to
improve legibility, but readers can be assured that no doubt exists as to the
names reproduced here. The six pictorial engravings have been enlarged to
enhance their value to the reader.
It must be added that reproduction of this map
would not have been possible without generous assistance, financial and in time,
from a diverse group of Cheshire County residents who share an interest in our
special past.
© 1981 OLD
MAPS West Chesterfield, N.H. 03466
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