Measuring & Mapping

Where, how far, and how much? People have invented an astonishing array of devices to answer seemingly simple questions like these. Measuring and mapping objects in the Museum's collections include the instruments of the famous—Thomas Jefferson's thermometer and a pocket compass used by Meriwether Lewis and William Clark on their expedition across the American West. A timing device was part of the pioneering motion studies of Eadweard Muybridge in the late 1800s. Time measurement is represented in clocks from simple sundials to precise chronometers for mapping, surveying, and finding longitude. Everyday objects tell part of the story, too, from tape measures and electrical meters to more than 300 scales to measure food and drink. Maps of many kinds fill out the collections, from railroad surveys to star charts.

Nicolas Jansz Visscher (1618-1679), an accomplished Dutch cartographer, published an important map of the Dutch lands in North America. This is a copy of that map. The text at bottom center reads “A CORRECT COPY & IMITATION OF THE ORIGINAL DUTCH MAP in the possession of S.
Description
Nicolas Jansz Visscher (1618-1679), an accomplished Dutch cartographer, published an important map of the Dutch lands in North America. This is a copy of that map. The text at bottom center reads “A CORRECT COPY & IMITATION OF THE ORIGINAL DUTCH MAP in the possession of S. CONVERSE, PUBLISHER, NEW YORK. Engraved by THOS STARLING, WILMINGTON SQUARE, LONDON, 1833.” As in the Visscher original (which was actually published in 1655), an inset below the title depicts “NIEUW AMSTERDAM / op t’Eylant Manhattans.”
This map extends from 37° to 46°10' north latitude and from 297° to 312° longitude measured from west to east.
Sherman Converse, the one-time owner of the Visscher map, was a Yale graduate who was friendly with Noah Webster and published Webster's first dictionary. Converse moved from New York to Quebec in 1838, returned to the United States around 1844, and died in Boston.
Ref: Wilberforce Eames, “The First Three Engraved Views of New York,” New York Times (Feb. 16, 1901), p. BR 13.
Location
Currently not on view
date made
1833
ID Number
PH.317824
catalog number
317824
accession number
231759
While suggestions of a canal between Philadelphia and Baltimore originated in the 17th century, and efforts to dig this canal date from shortly after the Revolution, it was the Chesapeake and Delaware Canal that made the waterway a reality.
Description
While suggestions of a canal between Philadelphia and Baltimore originated in the 17th century, and efforts to dig this canal date from shortly after the Revolution, it was the Chesapeake and Delaware Canal that made the waterway a reality. Henry Schenck Tanner (1786-1858), an important early American cartographer, produced this map showing the proposed route of the canal for the Fifth General Report of the President and Directors of the Chesapeake and Delaware Canal Company (Philadelphia, 1824). The text at bottom center reads “Longitude East from Washington.” The signature at bottom right reads “Drawn & Engrav’d by H. S. Tanner.”
Ref: Walter W. Ristow, American Maps and Mapmakers: Commercial Cartography in the Nineteenth Century (Detroit, 1985), pp. 191-206.
James Walker, “Henry S. Tanner and Cartographic Expression of American Expansion in the 1820s,” Oregon Historical Quarterly 111 (2010): 444-461.
Location
Currently not on view
date made
1824
ID Number
PH.317825
catalog number
317825
accession number
231759
After Alabama became a state in 1819 and after the Indian Removal Act of 1830, white settlers and their African slaves arrived in the area in great numbers. This map was created under the auspices of the General Land Office, a federal agency that was formed in 1812.
Description
After Alabama became a state in 1819 and after the Indian Removal Act of 1830, white settlers and their African slaves arrived in the area in great numbers. This map was created under the auspices of the General Land Office, a federal agency that was formed in 1812. The agency took over functions begun under the Federal Land Ordinance of 1785.
This map shows Alabama divided into square townships 6 miles on each side (townships at the edges of the state tend to be smaller and irregular in shape). Some townships are designated A, B, C, D, or X. The scale seems to be 18 miles to the inch. The identified towns are Cahaba, Florence, Huntsville, Mardisville, Mobile, Montgomery, Sparta, St. Stephens, Tuscaloosa, and Wetumka. The Cherokee Cession is shown, as are the Choctaw Cession of 1830, the Chickasaw Cession of 1833, and the Creek Cession of 1832. One meridian runs through St. Stephens, a settlement along the Tombigbee River (here spelled Tombeckee) that served as the original capital of the Alabama Territory. Another meridian runs through Huntsville, the first incorporated town in the region. An east-west line at 31° north latitude divides Alabama from West Florida. Another east-west line divides the Northern and Southern surveyor’s districts.
The text at bottom reads “Exhibiting the situation of the Public Surveys, shewing what records of the same are on file in the General Land Office and the Surveyor General’s Office, the Townships, the field notes of which are yet to be transcribed for the General Land Office and recorded in this Office, also, what Townships the original field notes of which are not on file in either Office, having been destroyed by fire in December 1827, and which have to be retraced for the purpose of obtaining the Original Land Marks to be preserved on record in the General Land Office and This Office. Surveyor’s Office, Florence Alabama Jas H. Weakley Surveyor General of the Public Lands in Alabama.”
Ref: Jas. H. Weakley to James Whitcomb, Commissioner of the General Land Office, Nov. 16, 1840, in Public Documents Printed by Order of the Senate of the United States (Washington, D.C., 1841), vol. 3, pp. 134-135.
Location
Currently not on view
date made
1840
ID Number
PH.317489
catalog number
317489
accession number
230397
This map extends from Pueblo, Colorado, in the east to the conjunction of the Colorado and Flax Rivers in the west, and from north of Breckenridge, Colorado, to south of Albuquerque, New Mexico, or, from about 34°45' to about 39°20' north latitude, and from about 104°50' to about
Description
This map extends from Pueblo, Colorado, in the east to the conjunction of the Colorado and Flax Rivers in the west, and from north of Breckenridge, Colorado, to south of Albuquerque, New Mexico, or, from about 34°45' to about 39°20' north latitude, and from about 104°50' to about 112° longitude west of Greenwich. The scale is 12 miles to the inch. A text in the lower right corner pertains to the “CENTRAL GOLD REGIONS.” It also states “A delicate tint was ruled over the whole plate to give the effect of a plaster model of the country. Constructed and engraved by BARON F. W. VON EGLOFFSTEIN Topographer to the Surveys under the 35th and 38th parallels. Frémont’s, Beckwith’s, and Ives’ Expeditions.” The texts at bottom read “Lettering by John L. Hazzard” and “Ruling by Samuel Sartain” and “[GE]OGRAPHICAL INSTITUTE, BARON F. W. VON EGLOFFSTEIN, NO. 164 BROADWAY, N. YORK. 1864”
Baron Freidrich Wilhelm Von Egloffstein (1824-1885), the topographer who compiled this map, was a German immigrant who came to the United States in 1849. He went with John C. Frémont on a winter trek from St. Louis to the Great Basin (1853-1854), seeking a rail route to the west. He joined Edward G. Beckwith on a railroad reconnaissance from Salt Lake City to California (1854). And he travelled with Joseph C. Ives up the Colorado River and across the Southern Plateau (1857-1858), on an expedition organized by the Corps of Topographical Engineers. He had not gone on the 1859 expedition led by John N. Macomb-a graduate of the U.S. Military Academy and member of the Corps of Topographical Engineers-that aimed to locate a practicable route between Santa Fe, New Mexico, and the military outposts in the southern part of Utah. But he did have access to notes compiled by those who had.
This map incorporates several important and somewhat related technological innovations, all of which Egloffstein had used, to some extent, on his chart of the “AMAKARIMA GROUP WITH PART OF LOO-CHOO” (cat. PH*317505). In order to produce a landscape that appeared remarkably realistic, Egloffstein made topographical models of plaster, and photographed them while lit from one side. In order to reproduce these images, he used the technique known as heliographic etching. Following the lead of the French photographic pioneer, Joseph Nicéphore Niépce, Egloffstein coated his steel photographic plates with a substance (such as bitumen of Judea) that hardened when exposed to light. After taking a picture, he washed away the still-soft parts of the substance, used an acid to eat away those parts of the plate that could now be seen, and printed the result. By inserting a fine mesh (or grid) between the model and the plate, he was able to print halftone images. Egloffstein was not the first to develop a photomechanical printing process-Paul Pretsch in England had organized a company for that purpose in 1854-but his contributions were important nonetheless.
Egloffstein was working on this map in 1860 and asking people in Washington about particular geographical details. He joined the Union army at the start of the Civil War, and was wounded in battle in 1862. He then established a Geographical Institute in New York. It was here that he completed the map, dated it 1864, and distributed some copies. In 1876 the map was published with the official Report of the Exploring Expedition from Santa Fe, New Mexico, to the Junction of the Grand and Green Rivers of the Great Colorado of the West.
Egloffstein included on this map information about several expeditions in addition to the above mentioned ones led by Frémont, Beckwith, Ives, and Macomb. These included a chain survey in eastern New Mexico conducted by J. C. Brown from 1825 to 1827; William W. Loring’s 1858 trek through the San Luis Valley in Colorado; Randolph B. Marcy’s 1858 trek from Utah to New Mexico; Oliver Shepherd’s trek through Arizona in 1859; John S. Simonson’s 1859 trek along the San Juan River; John G. Walker’s 1859 trek through Navajo country south of Four Corners; and Amiel W. Whipple’s 1853 trek to find a route for a transcontinental railroad.
The map is also a clear statement of American interest in and involvement with the area. Utah and New Mexico had become territories in 1850. Colorado became a territory in 1861, in the wake of the gold rush that brought prospectors and settlers to the area around Pike’s Peak. Arizona became a territory in in 1863, at a time when Southerners, who had hoped the area would be hospitable to slavery, had seceded from the Union. Some land in eastern New Mexico and Colorado had been laid out in square townships, 6 miles on a side, according to the procedures of the General Land Survey. The Mormon Settlement is shown in Utah—and, indeed, it was fear of further conflicts with the Mormons that had led the army to sponsor Macomb’s expedition.
Egloffstein also included the path taken by Silvestre Vélez de Escalante, a priest who in 1776 sought a trail from Santa Fe to the missions in California. Other Spanish names on the map include the Spanish Trail, the San Francisco Mountains, and the Sierra Abajo mountains.
Evidence of Native Americans on the map includes Mesa Verde; Moquis Pueblo (the Anglo term for Hopi) in the Painted Desert; Navajo Valley to the east of the Painted Desert; Navajo Mesa (now known as the Black Mesa) in northern Arizona; Ildefonso, Pojoaque, Zandia (aka Sandia), Zuni, and other pueblos in New Mexico; and the ruins at Chaco Canyon and elsewhere.
Evidence of military presence in the area (in addition to the paths of military surveys) includes Fort Union (in northern New Mexico), Fort Defiance (in eastern Arizona), and Fort Hill (in southwestern Colorado).
The map also shows the paths of rivers and the positions of mountains (some with elevations) and mountain passes. Geological features include the Painted Desert in Arizona, the Needles in Utah, the Leroux cold springs and the Pagosa hot springs, the Mines in the Animas River valley (site of a major gold rush in 1860), the Dolores mines of Colorado, and the Burning Coal Bed (now the Lava Beds National Monument) in northern Arizona.
Ref: Imre Josef Demhardt, “An approximation to a bird’s eye view, and is intelligible to every eye . . . Friedrich Wilhelm von Egloffstein, the Exploration of the American West, and Its First Relief Shaded Maps,” in E. Liebenberg and I. J. Demhardt, eds., History of Cartography. International Symposium of the ICA Commission, 2010 (Dordrecht, 2012), pp. 57-74.
David Hanson, “Baron Frederich Wilhelm von Egloffstein,” Printing History 15 (1993): 12-24.
Steven K. Madsden, Exploring Desert Stone: John N. McComb’s 1859 Expedition to the Canyonlands of Colorado (Logan, Utah, 2010).
Stevan Rowan, The Baron in the Grand Canyon: Friedrick Wilhelm von Egloffstein in the West (University of Missouri, 2012).
Location
Currently not on view
Associated Date
1860
1864
1876
ID Number
PH.317493
catalog number
317493
accession number
230397
Thomas Kitchin (1718-1784) was an English engraver and cartographer, many of whose maps were published in the London Magazine. This one appeared in the issue for November 1761. It extends from lat.
Description
Thomas Kitchin (1718-1784) was an English engraver and cartographer, many of whose maps were published in the London Magazine. This one appeared in the issue for November 1761. It extends from lat. 36°10' to 39°55' north, and from 75°40' to 82°25' west of London; and from 0° to 7° west of Philadelphia. The text at top reads “For the Lond: Ma;” It would have been of interest to readers following the course of the French and Indian Wars.
Location
Currently not on view
date made
1761
ID Number
PH.317828
catalog number
317828
accession number
231759
This map extends from 39°10'10" to 39°21'15" latitude and from 119°32'30" to 119°43' longitude west of Greenwich. The text at top reads “U.S. GEOLOGICAL SURVEY WEST OF THE 100TH MERIDIAN.” The texts at bottom read “EXPEDITIONS of 1876 & 1877, Under the Command of 1st Lieut. Geo.
Description
This map extends from 39°10'10" to 39°21'15" latitude and from 119°32'30" to 119°43' longitude west of Greenwich. The text at top reads “U.S. GEOLOGICAL SURVEY WEST OF THE 100TH MERIDIAN.” The texts at bottom read “EXPEDITIONS of 1876 & 1877, Under the Command of 1st Lieut. Geo. M. Wheeler, Corps of Engineers, U.S. Army” and “Lieut. Thos. W. Symons, and Dr. F. Kampf, Field Astronomy and Triangulation. Anton Karl, Topography, and “BY ORDER OF THE HON. THE SECRETARY OF WAR, UNDER THE DIRECTION OF BRIG. GEN. A. A. HUMPHREYS, CHIEF OF ENGINEERS, U.S. ARMY.”
The Comstock Lode of silver ore lies under the eastern slope of Mount Davidson, in the Virginia Range in Nevada. It was the first major silver lode found in the United States. After it was made public in 1859, prospectors rushed to the region. This map was made by the geological survey of the United States west of the 100th meridian authorized by Congress in 1872. Also known as the Wheeler Survey, it was led by George M. Wheeler (1842-1905), a graduate of the U.S. Military Academy and member of the Army Corps of Engineers.
Thomas William Symons (1849-1920) was a graduate of the U.S. Military Academy who, after joining the Corps of Engineers, surveyed and mapped the American Northwest. Dr. F. Kampf was a civilian astronomical assistant on the Wheeler Expedition. Anton Karl (b. 1854) was a Bavarian who, after coming to the United States in 1870, drew maps for the War Department, the General Land Office, the Geological Survey, and the Surveyor’s Office of the District of Columbia.
Ref: George M. Wheeler, “Annual Report upon the Geographical Surveys of the Territory of the United States West of the 100th Meridian,” in Annual Report of the Chief of Engineers for 1879 (Washington, D.C., 1879), opp. p. 189.
Location
Currently not on view
ID Number
PH.317501
catalog number
317501
accession number
230397
This map extends from 36°45' to 40°15' north latitude and from 75° to 82°30' west longitude from the meridian of Paris.
Description
This map extends from 36°45' to 40°15' north latitude and from 75° to 82°30' west longitude from the meridian of Paris. It was probably based on Robert de Vaugondy’s 1755 copy of the Fry & Jefferson map, and published in Le Petit Atlas Maritime (Paris, 1764) issued by Jacques Nicolas Bellin (1703-1772), a productive cartographer in Paris. An inscription at the upper right reads “Tome I. No 35.”
“Ft Cumberland ou de la Compag d’Oyo” at the western side of this map would have interested those following the course of the French and Indian Wars. “Charles Town détruite” in southern Maryland refers to the small town that served as the seat of Prince George’s County from 1695 until 1732, when the seat was moved to Upper Marlboro (not shown on this map). London, near Annapolis, refers to London Town (or Londontowne), a once thriving seaport established in 1683. A town on the Virginia side of the Potomac River is termed “Belhaven ou Alexandrie.”
Ref: P. Lee Phillips, “Virginia Cartography,” Smithsonian Miscellaneous Collections 37 (1898).
Location
Currently not on view
date made
1764
ID Number
PH.317822
catalog number
317822
accession number
231759
This map runs from Cascarot Island in the north to Bloody Island opposite Saint Louis, to Dunstand Island just below Saint Louis, and to Cahoe Island in the south. Churchill’s Mill is identified, as is Pages Mills and the U.S.
Description
This map runs from Cascarot Island in the north to Bloody Island opposite Saint Louis, to Dunstand Island just below Saint Louis, and to Cahoe Island in the south. Churchill’s Mill is identified, as is Pages Mills and the U.S. Arsenal.
This map is based on a survey conducted by Robert E. Lee in 1837, and it shows his plans for the construction of a dam from the head of Bloody Island to the Illinois shore, a revetment (a surface for an embankment) to protect the western shore of the island, and a long dike extending south from the bottom of the island.
Ref: “Report of the Chief Topographical Engineer,” in Public Documents Printed by Order of the Senate of the United States vol. 1 (1843): 121-250, on 132.
Location
Currently not on view
date made
1843
ID Number
PH.317507
catalog number
317507
accession number
230397
Thomas Kitchin (1718-1784) was an English engraver and cartographer who produced many maps for the London Magazine. This one appeared in the issue for August 1757. It extends from lat.
Description
Thomas Kitchin (1718-1784) was an English engraver and cartographer who produced many maps for the London Magazine. This one appeared in the issue for August 1757. It extends from lat. 37°10' to 40°30' north, and from 74° to 80°10' west of London; and from 1°25' east to 4°40' west of Philadelphia. It has a scale of British state miles. The text at top reads “For the Lond: Mag:” The text at bottom reads “Printed for R. Baldwin in Pater Noster Row.”
Location
Currently not on view
date made
1757
ID Number
PH.317826
catalog number
317826
accession number
231759
Following the establishment of the State of Michigan and the Territory of Wisconsin in 1836, interest arose in the mineral resources of these regions.
Description
Following the establishment of the State of Michigan and the Territory of Wisconsin in 1836, interest arose in the mineral resources of these regions. William Austin Burt, a United States Deputy Surveyor in the region, found that local iron deposits caused serious disturbances in his magnetic compass, leading him to develop the solar compass (several of which are in the Museum collections). Congress authorized a geological survey of the Upper Peninsula region of Michigan in 1847. This map is one result of that project.
This map of Lake Superior and the Upper Peninsula of Michigan extends from 45° to 48°55' north latitude, and from 83°40' to 92°12' longitude west from Greenwich. The several geological features are in different colors.
The text at lower right reads “Prepared PURSUANT to AN Act of Congress APPROVED / MARCH 1ST 1847, ENTITLED ‘AN Act TO ESTABLISH A NEW Land District / AND TO PROVIDE FOR THE SALE OF MINERAL LANDS IN THE / STATE OF Michigan’ / BY / J. W. FOSTER & J. D. WHITNEY, U.S. GEOLOGISTS / J. Ackerman Lithr 379 Broadway, N.Y.”
After graduating from Yale College and studying chemistry with Robert Hare in Philadelphia and with Charles T. Jackson in Boston, Josiah Dwight Whitney (1819-1896) spent several years studying geology and related sciences in Europe. In 1847, as one of the best trained scientists in the United States, he was named first assistant on Jackson’s geological survey of the region around Lake Superior, and was given charge of this project soon thereafter. Working with John Wells Foster (1815-1873), a graduate of Wesleyan University, he prepared a report on the copper lands in 1850, and another on the iron region in 1851, and submitted them to Congress.
J. W. Foster and J. D. Whitney, “Report on the Geology and Topography of a Portion of the Lake Superior Land District in the State of Michigan,” part 2, Congress, Session, House Doc. , 1851.
Location
Currently not on view
date made
1851
ID Number
PH.317502
catalog number
317502
accession number
230397
This map is centered on the Chesapeake Bay, but contains information on the Atlantic Coast, the Rappahannock River, Richmond, and the District of Columbia. It extends from about 36°35' to 39°40' latitude, and from below 75° to above 77°20' longitude west of Greenwich.
Description
This map is centered on the Chesapeake Bay, but contains information on the Atlantic Coast, the Rappahannock River, Richmond, and the District of Columbia. It extends from about 36°35' to 39°40' latitude, and from below 75° to above 77°20' longitude west of Greenwich. The scale is 1/400,000. The date is 1855.
Location
Currently not on view
date made
1855
ID Number
PH.317506
catalog number
317506
accession number
230397
In 1849, shortly after gold was discovered in California, some 3,000 immigrants traveled along the Canadian River from Fort Smith in Arkansas to Old Fort Holmes, in what is now Oklahoma.
Description
In 1849, shortly after gold was discovered in California, some 3,000 immigrants traveled along the Canadian River from Fort Smith in Arkansas to Old Fort Holmes, in what is now Oklahoma. Since their route passed through the Commanche buffalo range, the immigrants were escorted by troops led by Capt. Randolph Barnes Marcy (1812-1887), a graduate of the U.S. Military Academy who spent much of his career as an Army officer in the American West.
This map extends from about 34°30' to about 36°10' north latitude, and from about 94°10' to about 97°35' longitude west of Greenwich. The scale is 10 miles to the inch. There is a table of distances from Fort Smith. The full title reads: MAP / of route pursued by U.S. Troops, from Fort Smith, Arkansas, to Santa Fe, New Mexico / SOUTH SIDE OF CANADIAN RIVER, / in the year 1849. / Whilst serving as an Escort to a part of California Emigrants. / Escort commanded and Location and Construction of Road directed by / Cap. R. B. Marcy, 5th Infy assisted as far as Topofke Creek by Byt Cap. F. T. Dent, 5th Infy / Exploration and Survey of the route by / 1st Lieut. JAMES H. SIMPSON, U.S.T. Engrs / assisted as far as Topofke Creek, by Cap. Dent, and all the way through by Mr. Thos A. P. Champlin. / projected & drawn by / Lt Simpson, assisted by Mr E. M. Kern, and Mr Champlin. The text at bottom reads “P. S. Duval’s Steam Lith press Phil.”
Ref: W. Eugene Hollon, Beyond the Cross Timbers: The Travels of Randolph B. Marcey, 1812-1887 (Norman, 1955).
Location
Currently not on view
ID Number
PH.317497
catalog number
317497
accession number
230397
This two-sheet map was issued by the Engineer Department of the U.S. Army. It is dated March 1867 and extends from above 38° to about 50° latitude and from below 95° to above 105°30' longitude west of London.
Description
This two-sheet map was issued by the Engineer Department of the U.S. Army. It is dated March 1867 and extends from above 38° to about 50° latitude and from below 95° to above 105°30' longitude west of London. Based on several military surveys of the area, it was compiled by Gouveneur K. Warren (1830-1882), a graduate of the U.S. Military Academy who served in the Corps of Topographical Engineers, led a command in the Union Army during the Civil War, and returned to the Engineers in 1865.
Location
Currently not on view
date made
1867
ID Number
PH.317494
accession number
230397
catalog number
317494
The Utah Territory was organized in September 1850, on the same day that California became a state. As large numbers of migrants traveling to California led to increased hostilities with Mormon settlers, the U.S. Army sent men into the region. James H. Simpson (b.
Description
The Utah Territory was organized in September 1850, on the same day that California became a state. As large numbers of migrants traveling to California led to increased hostilities with Mormon settlers, the U.S. Army sent men into the region. James H. Simpson (b. 1813), a graduate of the U.S. Military Academy who served with the Topographical Engineers, arrived in Utah in 1858 and began conducting a reconnaissance for a new route to California. He drew this map later that year, after winter weather precluded further work in the field. The map extends from 34° to about 44° latitude, and from below 105° to about 122° longitude west of Greenwich.
Simpson based the geography of this map on maps drawn by John C. Frémont (1848), H. Stansbury and J. W. Gunnison (1849), Gunnison (1853), E. G. Beckworth (1854), R. S. Williamson and J. G. Parke (1854), and J. Kirke (1857). He included wagon roads, proposed roads, and the routes taken by Fremont, Stansbury and Gunnison, and Gunnison and Beckworth. Lake Tahoe is here named Lake Bigler in honor of John Bigler, the third governor of California.
Location
Currently not on view
date made
1858
ID Number
PH.317496
accession number
230397
catalog number
317496
This map extends from 30°20' to 39°40' north latitude and from 75° to 91° longitude west from London. The text at bottom center reads “London Published as the Act directs Jan. 10, 1795 by H. D. Symonds N° 20 Paternoster Row.” The text at bottom right reads “Russell del.
Description
This map extends from 30°20' to 39°40' north latitude and from 75° to 91° longitude west from London. The text at bottom center reads “London Published as the Act directs Jan. 10, 1795 by H. D. Symonds N° 20 Paternoster Row.” The text at bottom right reads “Russell del. et sculp. Constitution R. Grays Inn La.”
This map shows the southern United States shortly after the Revolution. The “COLONEL SIMMES” area in Ohio refers to John Cleves Symmes, a lawyer from New Jersey and member of the Continental Congress who bought over 312,000 acres of land from the federal government in 1788. “DONATION LANDS from the COMMONWEALTH of VIRGINIA” refers to that section of Ohio that Virginia reserved as payment to veterans of the revolutionary war. “OHIO COMPANY” refers to other lands reserved for veterans of the war. “SEVEN RANGES” refers to the first tract in the Ohio area that was surveyed in what became known as the Public Land Survey. Areas in what is now Illinois are labeled “NEW JERSEY COMPANY,” “WABASH COMPANY” and “ARMY LANDS.” The Appalachian, Cumberland, Cherokee, and Tryon mountain ranges are shown, as is the “Ouaquaphenogaw Swamp” (now the Okefenokee) in Georgia. The lands of the Choctaws and the Chickasaws are shown to the east of the Mississippi, as well as the Indian settlement of Catabaw on the border between North and South Carolina.
John Russell (fl. 1733-1795) was a British engraver and draughtsman who worked for several cartographers. Henry Delahoy Symonds was a publisher in London. Russell and Symonds brought out a map of the middle states in 1794 and one of the northern states in 1795.
Ref: Ronald V. Tooley, Tooley’s Dictionary of Mapmakers (Hertfordshire, 1979).
Ronald V. Tooley, The Mapping of America (London, 1985).
Location
Currently not on view
date made
1795
ID Number
PH.317821
catalog number
317821
accession number
231759
Congress created the Wisconsin Territory in 1836, appropriated $3,000 for a survey of the boundary between Wisconsin and Michigan in 1838, and assigned this task to the secretary of war in 1840.
Description
Congress created the Wisconsin Territory in 1836, appropriated $3,000 for a survey of the boundary between Wisconsin and Michigan in 1838, and assigned this task to the secretary of war in 1840. The actual work was done by Thomas Jefferson Cram (1804-1883), a graduate of the United States Military Academy and a captain in the Corps of Topographical Engineers who was already working in the area. Using sextants and chronometers, Cram soon found that the geography of the region, and especially that of the Upper Peninsula, did not match the enabling legislation.
This is the map of the area that accompanied Cram’s report, which was sent to Congress in 1842. It extends from 41° to about 49° north latitude, and from below 84° to above 94° degrees longitude west from Greenwich. It was drawn by Joseph Dana Webster (1811-1876), a Dartmouth graduate and a member of the Corps of Topographical Engineers. It was engraved by William J. Stone, an engraver in Washington, D.C., who did a great deal of work for the federal government.
Ref: Thomas Jefferson Cram, “Report on the Survey of the Boundary between the State of Michigan and the Territory of Wiskonsin,” 27th Congress, 2nd Session, Senate Doc. 170, 1842.
Catherine Nicholson, “Finding the Stones,” Prologue 44 (2012).
Location
Currently not on view
date made
1842
ID Number
PH.317491
accession number
230397
catalog number
317491
The Iowa Territory was created in 1838. This map, created under the auspices of the General Land Office, divided the eastern part of that land into square townships 6 miles on each side (townships at the edges of the state tend to be smaller and irregular in shape).
Description
The Iowa Territory was created in 1838. This map, created under the auspices of the General Land Office, divided the eastern part of that land into square townships 6 miles on each side (townships at the edges of the state tend to be smaller and irregular in shape). The scale is 18 miles to the inch.
The identified towns include Bellevue, Benton, Bloomfield, Bloomington, Centerville, Davenport, DuBuque, Farmington, Franklin, Iowa City, Jefferson, Lyons, Marengo, Mt. Pleasant, Moscow, N. York, Peru, Rochester, Rockingham, Salem, Tuscarorah, Van Buren, Washington, and West Point. Towns in Illinois include Cassville, Ft. Armstrong, Ft. Madison, and Rock Island. A Principal Meridian runs just east of Salem, and 1st and 2nd correction lines run east and west.
Much of the underlying survey was done by William A. Burt, inventor of the solar compass.
Ref: William Milburn, “Report,” in Public Documents Printed by Order of the Senate of the United States (Washington, D.C., 1841), vol. 3, pp. 57-109.
C. Albert White, A History of the Rectangular Land Survey System (Washington, D.C., 1983).
Location
Currently not on view
date made
ca 1840
ID Number
PH.317504
catalog number
317504
accession number
230397
Battle map used by General John J. Pershing, Commander of the American Expeditionary Force (AEF), in his office at General Headquarters (GHQ) in Chaumont, France, during World War I. Paper map mounted on wooden board.
Description
Battle map used by General John J. Pershing, Commander of the American Expeditionary Force (AEF), in his office at General Headquarters (GHQ) in Chaumont, France, during World War I. Paper map mounted on wooden board. Colored metal pins and paper squares map the locations of the Allied and Central armies and battle lines along the Western Front. Per the legend at center left of the map, round red pins indicate battle lines, round white pins indicate army group boundaries, and round pink pins indicate army boundaries. Blue and white paper stars indicate the location of French or British armies, red paper stars indicate American armies, black and white paper stars indicate Belgian armies, and black paper stars indicate the location of German armies. Paper labels across the map indicate the location of major military leaders and the divisions under their command. A table at the upper right of the map indicates the status of the divisions of the U.S. army, including whether they are in line or in reserve, whether they are fresh or tired, and their total number. A table at the center right of the map notes which enemy divisions have been dissolved and the date of their dissolution. At the center left of the map, near the map legend, the city of Paris is highlighted in pink.
Location
Currently not on view
associated date
1918
user
Pershing, John J.
American Expeditionary Force
ID Number
AF.35106
accession number
182935
catalog number
35106
In 1718, a French merchant company laid the foundations for the city of New Orleans. That same year, Guillame Delisle (or DeLisle) published this map of Louisiana and the course of the Mississippi River.
Description
In 1718, a French merchant company laid the foundations for the city of New Orleans. That same year, Guillame Delisle (or DeLisle) published this map of Louisiana and the course of the Mississippi River. The inscription reads “a Paris Chez l’Auteur le Sr Delisle sur le Quay de l’Horloge avec Privilege du Roy Juin 1718.” An inset at lower right shows the mouth of the Mississippi River; the text here reads “CARTE PARTICULIERE DES EMBOUCHURES DE LA RIVIE S. LOUIS ET DE LA MOBILE.”
This map extends from 26° to 46° latitude north, and from 271° to 306° longitude west from Paris. It shows numerous Indian settlements as well as routes followed by such explorers as DeSoto, Deni, Cavier, and de Tonty. It helped bolster the French claim to ownership of this part of North America. And it was widely copied.
Ref: R. V. Tooley, “French Mapping of the Americas,” Map Collectors Circle 33 (1967).
Location
Currently not on view
date made
1718
ID Number
PH.317820
catalog number
317820
accession number
231759
This map extends from lat. 36°15' to 41° north, and from 75°15' to 83°30' west of London; and from 15' east to 8°30' west of Philadelphia. It has a scale of American statute miles. The text at bottom reads “Engraved for New Encyclopaedia—Published by I.
Description
This map extends from lat. 36°15' to 41° north, and from 75°15' to 83°30' west of London; and from 15' east to 8°30' west of Philadelphia. It has a scale of American statute miles. The text at bottom reads “Engraved for New Encyclopaedia—Published by I. Low, New York.”
This appeared in The New and Complete American Encyclopaedia (New York: Printed and Published by John Low, No. 33 Chatham Street, [1805-1811]). A similar map (or perhaps an earlier state of this map) appeared in John Payne, A New and Complete System of Universal Geography (New York: Printed For, and Sold By John Low, Book-Seller, At the Shakespeares Head, No. 332 Water-Street, 1798-[1800]), volume 4, facing page 385.
John Low (1760-1809) was a printer and publisher in New York.
Location
Currently not on view
date made
1799
ID Number
PH.317827
catalog number
317827
accession number
231759
This map, created under the auspices of the General Land Office, divided Illinois into square townships 6 miles on each side (though townships at the edges of the state tend to be smaller and irregular in shape). The scale is 18 miles to the inch.
Description
This map, created under the auspices of the General Land Office, divided Illinois into square townships 6 miles on each side (though townships at the edges of the state tend to be smaller and irregular in shape). The scale is 18 miles to the inch. The identified towns include Alton, Chicago, Danville, Edwardsville, Galena, Kaskaskia, Palestine, Quincy, Shawneetown, and Springfield, as well as St. Louis in the Missouri Territory, and Vincennes in Indiana. The 3d Principal Meridian runs down the middle of the state. The 4th Principal Meridian lies about 66 miles to the west. The text at bottom left reads “Surveyor Generals Office / Saint Louis 1st October 1839” and “William Milburn /Surveyor General.”
Ref: William Milburn, “Report,” in Public Documents Printed by Order of the Senate of the United States (Washington, D.C., 1841), vol. 3, pp. 57-109.
C. Albert White, A History of the Rectangular Land Survey System (Washington, D.C., 1983).
Location
Currently not on view
date made
1839
ID Number
PH.317492
accession number
230397
catalog number
317492
This 1861 patriotic print produced by Magnus & Co. assisted the Northern public as it followed family and friends throughout the war.
Description
This 1861 patriotic print produced by Magnus & Co. assisted the Northern public as it followed family and friends throughout the war. It features a large 1859 map of the eastern United States, with red overprinting to designate railroad tracks, steamboat routes, and telegraph lines. Below the main map, the print also includes four smaller charts, including a military map of Maryland and Virginia, a map of the Union-occupied Fort Pickens at Pensacola, Florida, a general map of the eastern seaboard and a map of Northern military movements between New York and St. Louis. Adorning the print are illustrations of different military drills from Hardee’s Tactics, written by former West Point commandant William Hardee. Ironically, Hardee had been commissioned to write his 1855 manual of military tactics by then-Secretary of War, Jefferson Davis, and would later fight for the Confederacy. Two female allegorical personifications of Liberty and Justice are included next to a view of the Capitol Building, envisioned with its dome completed.
Charles Magnus (1826-1900) was born Julian Carl Magnus in Germany and immigrated with his family to New York City sometime between 1848 and 1850. During the 1850s, he learned the printing business while working with his brother on a German language weekly newspaper, the Deutsche Schnellpost. He later began his own lithographer firm, producing city views and commercial letterhead designs. During the Civil War, he designed pro-Union envelopes and illustrated song sheets. From Washington, D.C. branch, he also produced small, hand-colored scenes of Union camps and hospitals. Soldiers purchased these picturesque scenes of camp life to send home to calm the worries of anxious family members.
Location
Currently not on view
Date made
1861
maker
Charles Magnus & Co.
ID Number
DL.60.3310
catalog number
60.3310
This Dutch map, made about 1655, shows eastern North America from what is now Canada to Virginia. Illustrations within the map include bears, beaver, deer, foxes, turkeys, and rabbits, as well as Indian villages on land, and Indians in boats at sea.
Description
This Dutch map, made about 1655, shows eastern North America from what is now Canada to Virginia. Illustrations within the map include bears, beaver, deer, foxes, turkeys, and rabbits, as well as Indian villages on land, and Indians in boats at sea. The lower right corner of the map contains an inset of Nieuw Amsterdam, the third known engraved view of that city which is now New York. The view is framed by a decorative cartouche with fruits and a crest and flanked by Indian figures on either side. This is the second version or state of this map, and number 5 of a series identified by historians as the Jansson-Visscher maps. Fort Kasimier has been added on the Delaware River to recognize the Dutch capture of the fort in 1655.
Many maps of the Americas were produced during the period of exploration and colonial settlement in the 17th century. The period between 1630 and 1700 is known as the golden age of Dutch cartography, as the Netherlands was a center for map publishing as well as for the country's maritime enterprise that depended on maps and charts.
The Museum's map collection includes a number of important examples received as a gift from Mabel Brady Garvan, who, with her husband Francis P. Garvan, built an important collection of American paintings, furniture, and decorative arts that is now at the Yale University Art Gallery.
Location
Currently not on view
Date made
ca 1666
ca 1655
maker
Visscher, Nicolaes Jansz
ID Number
GA.24319
accession number
251493
catalog number
24319
Frederick de Wit's decorative map, made about 1650, includes oval vignettes of Latin American cities along the top border. Single figures of different native peoples line either side, including a Virginiani chief and brave, as shown in the detail.
Description
Frederick de Wit's decorative map, made about 1650, includes oval vignettes of Latin American cities along the top border. Single figures of different native peoples line either side, including a Virginiani chief and brave, as shown in the detail. Some figures have been crudely colored to cover their nakedness. The map represents a flawed understanding of New World geography, such as picturing California as an island.
Many maps of the Americas were produced during the period of exploration and colonial settlement in the 17th century. The period between 1630 and 1700 is known as the golden age of Dutch cartography, as the Netherlands was a center for map publishing as well as for the country's maritime enterprise that depended on maps and charts.
The Museum's map collection includes a number of important examples received as a gift from Mabel Brady Garvan, who, with her husband Francis P. Garvan, built an important collection of American paintings, furniture, and decorative arts that is now at the Yale University Art Gallery.
Location
Currently not on view
Date made
ca 1650
maker
De Wit, F.
ID Number
GA.24303
accession number
251493
catalog number
GA*24303

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