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John Norman’s 1791 Chart from New York to Timber Island
A rare American chart of the waters off Cape Cod, Martha’s Vineyard and Nantucket.
Chart from New York to Timber Island Including Nantucket Shoals was engraved and first published in 1791 by John Norman, Boston’s most notable post-war map engraver. It is usually found in Norman’s American Pilot, one of the earliest atlases published in America, where it is joined with four, five or six other sheets to form a single large chart of the New England coast. This sheet is however untrimmed and was apparently a proof, issued separately or perhaps remaindered.
The chart depicts the complex stretch of coast from Chatham and Monomoy on Cape Cod south and west to the entrance of Narragansett Bay. These waters are some of the busiest and most treacherous in New England. Before the advent of advanced charts and navigation aids these waters represented a particular threat to the region’s economy, dependent as it was on fishing and trade. Nantucket in particular suffered, as its economy was heavily reliant on whaling—with some 150 vessels for a population of just 4500!–and accessing its main harbor on the north shore required passage through particularly difficult shoals.
The chart depicts the complex coastal topography is depicted in considerable detail, including hundreds of islands and islets, rocks and shoals, numerous depth soundings, and safe channels through the area’s dangerous waters. There is relatively little inland detail other than the names of some towns and the lighthouse at Nantucket’s Sandy Point. The title cartouche includes a certification from Osgood Carleton, Boston “teacher of navigation” and noted mapmaker, to the effect that “I have carefully examined this chart and find it to agree with Holland’s surveys. The shoals are well authenticated by Br[itis]h pilots.”
“Holland’s surveys” is a reference to Samuel Holland, former Surveyor General of the Northern District of North America. From 1765-75 Holland had overseen an ambitious hydrographic survey of the New England coast under the auspices of the Board of Trade, the results of which were later published by J.F.W. Des Barres in The Atlantic Neptune. The odd thing is that a comparison of Chart from New York to Timber Island with those in The Atlantic Neptune reveals no particular resemblance. Indeed, the closest resemblance—though still in many places rather loose—is to A Chart of Nantucket Shoals, which also appeared in Norman’s American Pilot. That chart, one of the few truly original works in the atlas, was based on surveys taken from Nantucket’s Sandy Point Light by keeper Paul Pinkham.
This chart bears a title, imprint, and continuous neatline and graticule, all hallmarks of a separate publication. However, as mentioned earlier, the title Chart from New York to Timber Island reveals its other role as the title sheet of a much larger, multi-sheet chart covering most of the New England coast. This first appeared in five sheets in the 1791 edition of the American Pilot and over time expanded to include two additional sheets covering Long Island and George’s Bank.
John Norman and The American Pilot
John Norman (1748-1817) first appears in the historical record in an announcement in the May 11, 1774 Pennsylvania Journal offering his services as an “Architect and Landscape Engraver.” In 1781 he moved to Boston, where one of his first endeavors was engraving maps and portraits for the American edition of the Reverend Murray’s Impartial History of the War in America. Later in his career he was involved in important cartographic projects such as An Accurate Map of the Four New England States (1785), a1789 book of charts published by Matthew Clark, and Osgood Carleton’s Accurate Map of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts (1797).
After completing the engraving for Clark’s landmark 1789 chart book, Norman began to issue his own charts and in 1791 advertised The American Pilot. This work, reissued a number of times over the next two decades, contained between nine and twelve charts depicting the coast from Maine to Georgia, including the one offered here. Though Norman lived until 1817, editions of the American Pilot issued from 1794-1803 bore the imprint of William Norman, thought to be his son. In 1810 the “John Norman” imprint reappears, followed by that of Andrew Allen in the final, 1816 edition of the Pilot.
In all, a rare and desirable chart of the southern New England coast and a substantial rarity of early American mapmaking.
See the details: https://bostonraremaps.com/inventory/new-york-to-timber-island/
A rare American chart of the waters off Cape Cod, Martha’s Vineyard and Nantucket.
Chart from New York to Timber Island Including Nantucket Shoals was engraved and first published in 1791 by John Norman, Boston’s most notable post-war map engraver. It is usually found in Norman’s American Pilot, one of the earliest atlases published in America, where it is joined with four, five or six other sheets to form a single large chart of the New England coast. This sheet is however untrimmed and was apparently a proof, issued separately or perhaps remaindered.
The chart depicts the complex stretch of coast from Chatham and Monomoy on Cape Cod south and west to the entrance of Narragansett Bay. These waters are some of the busiest and most treacherous in New England. Before the advent of advanced charts and navigation aids these waters represented a particular threat to the region’s economy, dependent as it was on fishing and trade. Nantucket in particular suffered, as its economy was heavily reliant on whaling—with some 150 vessels for a population of just 4500!–and accessing its main harbor on the north shore required passage through particularly difficult shoals.
The chart depicts the complex coastal topography is depicted in considerable detail, including hundreds of islands and islets, rocks and shoals, numerous depth soundings, and safe channels through the area’s dangerous waters. There is relatively little inland detail other than the names of some towns and the lighthouse at Nantucket’s Sandy Point. The title cartouche includes a certification from Osgood Carleton, Boston “teacher of navigation” and noted mapmaker, to the effect that “I have carefully examined this chart and find it to agree with Holland’s surveys. The shoals are well authenticated by Br[itis]h pilots.”
“Holland’s surveys” is a reference to Samuel Holland, former Surveyor General of the Northern District of North America. From 1765-75 Holland had overseen an ambitious hydrographic survey of the New England coast under the auspices of the Board of Trade, the results of which were later published by J.F.W. Des Barres in The Atlantic Neptune. The odd thing is that a comparison of Chart from New York to Timber Island with those in The Atlantic Neptune reveals no particular resemblance. Indeed, the closest resemblance—though still in many places rather loose—is to A Chart of Nantucket Shoals, which also appeared in Norman’s American Pilot. That chart, one of the few truly original works in the atlas, was based on surveys taken from Nantucket’s Sandy Point Light by keeper Paul Pinkham.
This chart bears a title, imprint, and continuous neatline and graticule, all hallmarks of a separate publication. However, as mentioned earlier, the title Chart from New York to Timber Island reveals its other role as the title sheet of a much larger, multi-sheet chart covering most of the New England coast. This first appeared in five sheets in the 1791 edition of the American Pilot and over time expanded to include two additional sheets covering Long Island and George’s Bank.
John Norman and The American Pilot
John Norman (1748-1817) first appears in the historical record in an announcement in the May 11, 1774 Pennsylvania Journal offering his services as an “Architect and Landscape Engraver.” In 1781 he moved to Boston, where one of his first endeavors was engraving maps and portraits for the American edition of the Reverend Murray’s Impartial History of the War in America. Later in his career he was involved in important cartographic projects such as An Accurate Map of the Four New England States (1785), a1789 book of charts published by Matthew Clark, and Osgood Carleton’s Accurate Map of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts (1797).
After completing the engraving for Clark’s landmark 1789 chart book, Norman began to issue his own charts and in 1791 advertised The American Pilot. This work, reissued a number of times over the next two decades, contained between nine and twelve charts depicting the coast from Maine to Georgia, including the one offered here. Though Norman lived until 1817, editions of the American Pilot issued from 1794-1803 bore the imprint of William Norman, thought to be his son. In 1810 the “John Norman” imprint reappears, followed by that of Andrew Allen in the final, 1816 edition of the Pilot.
In all, a rare and desirable chart of the southern New England coast and a substantial rarity of early American mapmaking.
See the details: https://bostonraremaps.com/inventory/new-york-to-timber-island/
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Originally shared by Vicky Veritas
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Originally shared by Boston Rare Maps
A dozen maps documenting the development of Surfside, Nantucket, 1873-1927
A unique archive of manuscript and printed maps and plans tracing efforts over more than half a century to develop the Surfside area on Nantucket’s south shore. The material documents changing conceptions of the area, from a planned community of large lots and generous parkland, very much in the mode of contemporary resort communities such as Maine’s Cape Arundel, to a more pragmatic, high-density model designed to “pack ‘em in.” Until recently the archive has been in the possession of a descendant of one of the original developers.
Background
After decades of great prosperity mid-18th century Nantucket entered a steep economic and demographic decline. The primary cause was the increasing scarcity of whales, which necessitated the construction of ever-larger vessels able to voyage far into the Pacific, but too large to negotiate the sand bar at the entrance to Nantucket Harbor. The decline was accelerated by the double blow of the Great Fire of 1846 followed by the mass exodus of men, boys and ships lured by the California Gold Rush. By the end of the Civil War, which claimed yet more islanders, Nantucket’s population had fallen from a high of 9000 in 1840 to fewer than 5000.
No one quite knew it quite yet, but the island’s long-term future lay with the seasonal tourist economy. By the 1870s the accumulation of wealth among America’s upper and middle classes began to create demand for tourism options, while the explosion of rail and steamer links connecting the island with Cape Cod, Boston, and New York provided a means of meeting that demand.
Against this background a number of real estate development companies began sniffing around Nantucket, among them the Surfside Land Company. Established in 1873 by prominent citizen Henry Coffin, his brother, son and two other local men, the Company purchased land along the island’s South Shore. The parcel was huge, occupying some three miles of coast between Weweeder and Nobader Ponds. This was a visionary move, as the coast was gorgeous but empty of habitation or amenities until a Coast Guard lifesaving station was erected there in 1874.
Sales seem to have been slow until the Nantucket Railroad inaugurated service to Surfside on July 4, 1881. Around the same time a restaurant was opened, and the Surfside Hotel was established by moving a structure piece-by-piece from Providence, Rhode Island. One estimate has it that in its first season of service the train carried 30,000 passengers, many times the island’s full-time population. As a result of these improvements, the Land Company’s sales picked up, and by 1884 180 lots had been sold, though no residences appear to have been constructed. The owners were optimistic though: a puff piece in F. H. Bull’s 1889 Illustrated Martha’s Vineyard, Nantucket, Taunton, New Bedford, Fall River predicted that “within a few years, this splendid line of beach and bluffs will probably become the summer resort of crowds who are now content with far more common-place and less attractive quarters during the heated term.” (p. 133)
Indeed, despite some progress the development never took hold. The Railroad, repeatedly washed out by winter storms, went belly up in 1895 and was reorganized as the Nantucket Central. The Surfside route was abandoned, with the new line running from town through Tom Nevers and on to Siasconset on the eastern end of the island. Surfside withered, the hotel fell into disrepair and collapsed in 1899, and the Land Company eventually sold out for a measly $2.80 an acre. Today Surfside has been developed only sparsely, though traces of the 19th-century developers’ vision can still be seen on maps of the area.
Maps and plans of Surfside
This archive includes a dozen manuscript, lithographic and blueprint maps and plans of Surfside and its immediate surroundings. The content ranges from simple plats of individual parcels to two large and beautiful manuscripts dated 1873 and 1882 respectively.
Taken together, the maps and plans present the evolution (or devolution) of the Surfside Company’s vision for the area. The first item depicts property holdings before their acquisition by the Surfside Company. This is followed by a magnificent 1873 plan for a sort of garden suburb of Nantucket town, reminiscent of plans for similar resorts up and down the New England Coast. The next and largest group demonstrates how within a decade this expansive vision had morphed into a plan for a densely-packed subdivision of tiny lots, clearly designed to pack in as many holiday cottages as possible. By the 1920s, decades after the Company’s plans had failed to materialize, a pair of blueprint plans suggest how the area was divided into a patchwork of large and small holdings, with relatively little actual construction.
Rufus Cook, Civil and Topographical Engineer. 88 State Street, Boston. MAP OF SURF-SIDE THE PROPERTY OF THE NANTUCKET SURF-SIDE COMPANY. 1873. Ms. in ink and watercolor on surveyor’s linen, 10”h x ca. 27”w at neat line (sides rolled). The area bounded by the Atlantic and extending roughly 4 ½ miles east from Miacomet Pond. Appears to show the parcels from which the Surfside property was assembled. A later note mentions a parcel sold to C.G. Coffin in 1882.
Rufus Cook. Civil and Topographical Engineer, 88 State Street, Boston. MAP OF SURF-SIDE THE PROPERTY OF THE NANTUCKET SURF-SIDE COMPANY. 1873. Ms. in ink on surveyor’s linen, 22 1/8”h x 45 ¼”w at neat line. A beautiful manuscript depicting the area between Miacomet (to the west) and Nobadeer Ponds (to the east), with the Company’s original vision of a development of some 480 lots including extensive open space and parkland. Largest of the group, and most attractive after the Cartwright ms. of 1882.
Drawn by D.J. Cartwright Boston Mass., MAP OF SURF-SIDE THE PROPERTY OF THE NANTUCKET SURF-SIDE COMPANY. 1882. SEC. 1. Ms. in ink on surveyor’s linen, 24 ¼”h x 26 ½”w at neat line. Ink stamped numbers to blocks and numerous annotations in pencil, colored pencil and ink. Some street names written in ink. Large plan depicting the area flanking Atlantic Ave. / Nantucket Railroad after they make their turn inland, and the area further west. A beautiful piece, with the title superimposed on a delicately-rendered nautical scene.
[D.J. Cartwright Boston Mass.], SEC. 5 / SEC. 6. [1882.] Ms. in ink on surveyor’s linen, 24 1/8”h x 26 ¼”w at neat line. Ink stamped numbers to blocks and numerous annotations in pencil, colored pencil and ink. A companion to the previous item, though unadorned.
Surveyed by H.M. Waitt, Sept. 25, 1885, PLAN OF LANDS AT MADEQUECHAM also showing The Extension of Weweeder Avenue in SURFSIDE. Ms. in ink and watercolor on surveyor’s linen, 7 7/8”h x 15 ½”w at neat line. Narrow area between Atlantic and Weweeder extending east from Central Ave. and the Hotel. Extends 10,040’ east of Andrew Street.
Henry W. Wilson, Civil Engineer, 190 Dorchester St., Boston, PLAN of lands of the NANTUCKET SURFSIDE LAND CO…. Plan B…. Office 46 School Street, Boston. No date [but ca. 1891?] Lithograph with ms. additions in pencil, colored pencil and ink, 18 ¼”h x 26 7/8”w at sheet edge. Area bounded by Atlantic, South Shore Road (to the west) and Barker Street (to the east). Shows the Nantucket Railroad, Life Saving Station, and high water mark. Not in OCLC.
[Henry W. Wilson, Civil Engineer,] MAP OF PROPERTY OF THE SURF SIDE SYNDICATE, NANTUCKET, MASS…. LOTS FOR SALE BY ROBERT APPLETON, JR. EAST GRANGE, N.J. No date [but ca. 1891?] Lithograph on very thin paper, image area 25 7/8”h x 36 ¼”w at sheet edge, numerous lots highlighted in blue watercolor. Substantially identical to the previous item, though on a rather larger scale, hence attribution to Wilson. Appleton was an insurance agent and realtor, acting as sales agent for the Surfside Land Company. As of November 2017 OCLC lists but one institutional holding (Boston Public Library).
Henry W. Wilson, C.E., 190 Dorchester St., Boston, Mass., LAND OF FREDERICK S. HOPKINS, AT SURFSIDE, NANTUCKET, MASS…. July 20th 1891. Blueprint, ca. 28”h (edges ragged) x 37 ¼”w at sheet edge. Blocks and lots of various sizes, all numbered. Appears to connect with Wilson’s plan of Section 1 (next item) along left side.
Henry W. Wilson, Civil Engineer, SEC. 1. No date [but ca. 1891?] Blueprint, 21 3/8”h x 31 1/8”w at sheet edge. The area between Boston St. and Okorwaw, Lindsay and Oniska Aves.
Wm. S. Swift, Surveyor, Land at Nantucket SURVEYED FOR HENRY C. EVERETT Nov. 1921. Blueprint, 22 3/8”h x 34 ¾”w at neat line. Subdivision of a large parcel between Western Ave. and the Atlantic.
William F. Swift C.E., Land in “Surfside” Nantucket. Surveyed for Frederick G. Platt. Dec. 22 1927. Blueprint, 13”h x 17 3/8”w at neat line. Plat of a single parcel between Weweeder Ave. and the Atlantic, with inset showing its location between Madquecham and Toochka Ponds. A note on verso reads “no interest to H.C.E. [i.e., Henry Coffin Everett.”
Anon., Plan of Portion of Section 2 of Surf-side Lands. No date. Ink on tracing paper, 7 ¾”h x 12 ¾”w at sheet edge. Tracing from “Book of Plans No. 2 page 26” showing 31 numbered lots of various sizes, including two labeled “Hotel” and “Reserve.” “Atlantic Ave. West” and “Atlantic Ave. East” run along the Atlantic shore.
In summary, a remarkable group of maps and plans related to a significant 19th-century Nantucket real estate speculation and development. Impossible to reproduce today.
Provenance
This group of Surfside maps and plans was acquired as part of a group of some 150 Nantucket cartographic items, all related to division of common lands, property subdivisions, and surveys of individual parcels. As demonstrated by 20th-century correspondence that accompanied the archive, the material belonged to Frank H. and Clara Low (1925-2016) of Nantucket. Clara was the daughter of Henry Coffin Everett (1891-1963) and the great-great-granddaughter of Henry Coffin (1807-1900), one of the key figures of 19th century Nantucket. Henry built the house at 75 Main Street, across from his brother Charles G. at 78 Main. The men were in the whale-oil business together in the firm C.G. &H. Coffin. When that industry failed in the mid-19th century, they—along with Henry’s son Charles F.—were early developers of a plan for Surfside to become a summer cottage community that would rival Siasconset, a thriving resort on the east end of the island. Charles F. Coffin also created a development south of the village of ‘Sconset called Low Beach.
See the details: https://bostonraremaps.com/inventory/surfside-nantucket-cartographic-archive/
A unique archive of manuscript and printed maps and plans tracing efforts over more than half a century to develop the Surfside area on Nantucket’s south shore. The material documents changing conceptions of the area, from a planned community of large lots and generous parkland, very much in the mode of contemporary resort communities such as Maine’s Cape Arundel, to a more pragmatic, high-density model designed to “pack ‘em in.” Until recently the archive has been in the possession of a descendant of one of the original developers.
Background
After decades of great prosperity mid-18th century Nantucket entered a steep economic and demographic decline. The primary cause was the increasing scarcity of whales, which necessitated the construction of ever-larger vessels able to voyage far into the Pacific, but too large to negotiate the sand bar at the entrance to Nantucket Harbor. The decline was accelerated by the double blow of the Great Fire of 1846 followed by the mass exodus of men, boys and ships lured by the California Gold Rush. By the end of the Civil War, which claimed yet more islanders, Nantucket’s population had fallen from a high of 9000 in 1840 to fewer than 5000.
No one quite knew it quite yet, but the island’s long-term future lay with the seasonal tourist economy. By the 1870s the accumulation of wealth among America’s upper and middle classes began to create demand for tourism options, while the explosion of rail and steamer links connecting the island with Cape Cod, Boston, and New York provided a means of meeting that demand.
Against this background a number of real estate development companies began sniffing around Nantucket, among them the Surfside Land Company. Established in 1873 by prominent citizen Henry Coffin, his brother, son and two other local men, the Company purchased land along the island’s South Shore. The parcel was huge, occupying some three miles of coast between Weweeder and Nobader Ponds. This was a visionary move, as the coast was gorgeous but empty of habitation or amenities until a Coast Guard lifesaving station was erected there in 1874.
Sales seem to have been slow until the Nantucket Railroad inaugurated service to Surfside on July 4, 1881. Around the same time a restaurant was opened, and the Surfside Hotel was established by moving a structure piece-by-piece from Providence, Rhode Island. One estimate has it that in its first season of service the train carried 30,000 passengers, many times the island’s full-time population. As a result of these improvements, the Land Company’s sales picked up, and by 1884 180 lots had been sold, though no residences appear to have been constructed. The owners were optimistic though: a puff piece in F. H. Bull’s 1889 Illustrated Martha’s Vineyard, Nantucket, Taunton, New Bedford, Fall River predicted that “within a few years, this splendid line of beach and bluffs will probably become the summer resort of crowds who are now content with far more common-place and less attractive quarters during the heated term.” (p. 133)
Indeed, despite some progress the development never took hold. The Railroad, repeatedly washed out by winter storms, went belly up in 1895 and was reorganized as the Nantucket Central. The Surfside route was abandoned, with the new line running from town through Tom Nevers and on to Siasconset on the eastern end of the island. Surfside withered, the hotel fell into disrepair and collapsed in 1899, and the Land Company eventually sold out for a measly $2.80 an acre. Today Surfside has been developed only sparsely, though traces of the 19th-century developers’ vision can still be seen on maps of the area.
Maps and plans of Surfside
This archive includes a dozen manuscript, lithographic and blueprint maps and plans of Surfside and its immediate surroundings. The content ranges from simple plats of individual parcels to two large and beautiful manuscripts dated 1873 and 1882 respectively.
Taken together, the maps and plans present the evolution (or devolution) of the Surfside Company’s vision for the area. The first item depicts property holdings before their acquisition by the Surfside Company. This is followed by a magnificent 1873 plan for a sort of garden suburb of Nantucket town, reminiscent of plans for similar resorts up and down the New England Coast. The next and largest group demonstrates how within a decade this expansive vision had morphed into a plan for a densely-packed subdivision of tiny lots, clearly designed to pack in as many holiday cottages as possible. By the 1920s, decades after the Company’s plans had failed to materialize, a pair of blueprint plans suggest how the area was divided into a patchwork of large and small holdings, with relatively little actual construction.
Rufus Cook, Civil and Topographical Engineer. 88 State Street, Boston. MAP OF SURF-SIDE THE PROPERTY OF THE NANTUCKET SURF-SIDE COMPANY. 1873. Ms. in ink and watercolor on surveyor’s linen, 10”h x ca. 27”w at neat line (sides rolled). The area bounded by the Atlantic and extending roughly 4 ½ miles east from Miacomet Pond. Appears to show the parcels from which the Surfside property was assembled. A later note mentions a parcel sold to C.G. Coffin in 1882.
Rufus Cook. Civil and Topographical Engineer, 88 State Street, Boston. MAP OF SURF-SIDE THE PROPERTY OF THE NANTUCKET SURF-SIDE COMPANY. 1873. Ms. in ink on surveyor’s linen, 22 1/8”h x 45 ¼”w at neat line. A beautiful manuscript depicting the area between Miacomet (to the west) and Nobadeer Ponds (to the east), with the Company’s original vision of a development of some 480 lots including extensive open space and parkland. Largest of the group, and most attractive after the Cartwright ms. of 1882.
Drawn by D.J. Cartwright Boston Mass., MAP OF SURF-SIDE THE PROPERTY OF THE NANTUCKET SURF-SIDE COMPANY. 1882. SEC. 1. Ms. in ink on surveyor’s linen, 24 ¼”h x 26 ½”w at neat line. Ink stamped numbers to blocks and numerous annotations in pencil, colored pencil and ink. Some street names written in ink. Large plan depicting the area flanking Atlantic Ave. / Nantucket Railroad after they make their turn inland, and the area further west. A beautiful piece, with the title superimposed on a delicately-rendered nautical scene.
[D.J. Cartwright Boston Mass.], SEC. 5 / SEC. 6. [1882.] Ms. in ink on surveyor’s linen, 24 1/8”h x 26 ¼”w at neat line. Ink stamped numbers to blocks and numerous annotations in pencil, colored pencil and ink. A companion to the previous item, though unadorned.
Surveyed by H.M. Waitt, Sept. 25, 1885, PLAN OF LANDS AT MADEQUECHAM also showing The Extension of Weweeder Avenue in SURFSIDE. Ms. in ink and watercolor on surveyor’s linen, 7 7/8”h x 15 ½”w at neat line. Narrow area between Atlantic and Weweeder extending east from Central Ave. and the Hotel. Extends 10,040’ east of Andrew Street.
Henry W. Wilson, Civil Engineer, 190 Dorchester St., Boston, PLAN of lands of the NANTUCKET SURFSIDE LAND CO…. Plan B…. Office 46 School Street, Boston. No date [but ca. 1891?] Lithograph with ms. additions in pencil, colored pencil and ink, 18 ¼”h x 26 7/8”w at sheet edge. Area bounded by Atlantic, South Shore Road (to the west) and Barker Street (to the east). Shows the Nantucket Railroad, Life Saving Station, and high water mark. Not in OCLC.
[Henry W. Wilson, Civil Engineer,] MAP OF PROPERTY OF THE SURF SIDE SYNDICATE, NANTUCKET, MASS…. LOTS FOR SALE BY ROBERT APPLETON, JR. EAST GRANGE, N.J. No date [but ca. 1891?] Lithograph on very thin paper, image area 25 7/8”h x 36 ¼”w at sheet edge, numerous lots highlighted in blue watercolor. Substantially identical to the previous item, though on a rather larger scale, hence attribution to Wilson. Appleton was an insurance agent and realtor, acting as sales agent for the Surfside Land Company. As of November 2017 OCLC lists but one institutional holding (Boston Public Library).
Henry W. Wilson, C.E., 190 Dorchester St., Boston, Mass., LAND OF FREDERICK S. HOPKINS, AT SURFSIDE, NANTUCKET, MASS…. July 20th 1891. Blueprint, ca. 28”h (edges ragged) x 37 ¼”w at sheet edge. Blocks and lots of various sizes, all numbered. Appears to connect with Wilson’s plan of Section 1 (next item) along left side.
Henry W. Wilson, Civil Engineer, SEC. 1. No date [but ca. 1891?] Blueprint, 21 3/8”h x 31 1/8”w at sheet edge. The area between Boston St. and Okorwaw, Lindsay and Oniska Aves.
Wm. S. Swift, Surveyor, Land at Nantucket SURVEYED FOR HENRY C. EVERETT Nov. 1921. Blueprint, 22 3/8”h x 34 ¾”w at neat line. Subdivision of a large parcel between Western Ave. and the Atlantic.
William F. Swift C.E., Land in “Surfside” Nantucket. Surveyed for Frederick G. Platt. Dec. 22 1927. Blueprint, 13”h x 17 3/8”w at neat line. Plat of a single parcel between Weweeder Ave. and the Atlantic, with inset showing its location between Madquecham and Toochka Ponds. A note on verso reads “no interest to H.C.E. [i.e., Henry Coffin Everett.”
Anon., Plan of Portion of Section 2 of Surf-side Lands. No date. Ink on tracing paper, 7 ¾”h x 12 ¾”w at sheet edge. Tracing from “Book of Plans No. 2 page 26” showing 31 numbered lots of various sizes, including two labeled “Hotel” and “Reserve.” “Atlantic Ave. West” and “Atlantic Ave. East” run along the Atlantic shore.
In summary, a remarkable group of maps and plans related to a significant 19th-century Nantucket real estate speculation and development. Impossible to reproduce today.
Provenance
This group of Surfside maps and plans was acquired as part of a group of some 150 Nantucket cartographic items, all related to division of common lands, property subdivisions, and surveys of individual parcels. As demonstrated by 20th-century correspondence that accompanied the archive, the material belonged to Frank H. and Clara Low (1925-2016) of Nantucket. Clara was the daughter of Henry Coffin Everett (1891-1963) and the great-great-granddaughter of Henry Coffin (1807-1900), one of the key figures of 19th century Nantucket. Henry built the house at 75 Main Street, across from his brother Charles G. at 78 Main. The men were in the whale-oil business together in the firm C.G. &H. Coffin. When that industry failed in the mid-19th century, they—along with Henry’s son Charles F.—were early developers of a plan for Surfside to become a summer cottage community that would rival Siasconset, a thriving resort on the east end of the island. Charles F. Coffin also created a development south of the village of ‘Sconset called Low Beach.
See the details: https://bostonraremaps.com/inventory/surfside-nantucket-cartographic-archive/
Post has shared content
Originally shared by Boston Rare Maps
Unique and controversial 1851 survey of Wall Street
A unique 1851 survey of Wall Street between Broadway and Pearl Street, illustrating the future site of the New York Stock Exchange, the residences of important financiers, and the offices of legendary financial institutions.
The present map was prepared by City Surveyor Edwin Smith to inform a legal dispute between the Bank of the Republic and the Common Council of New York over the proposed street widening of Wall Street. It depicts the street between Broadway and Pearl, including some of the world’s most famed and valuable real estate. Of particular interest is the block between New and Broad Streets, now the home of the New York Stock Exchange. The financial institutions shown include the City Bank of New York (modern day Citibank), the Bank of America, the Bank of New York (founded by Hamilton in 1784 and today known as BNY Mellon), the Bank of the State of New York, the Bank of Commerce, Union Bank, National Bank, Phoenix Bank, Merchant’s Bank, the Bank of the Republic, Sun Mutual Insurance, and Atlantic Mutual Insurance, among others. Also shown are the residences of leading New York financiers, businessmen, and political figures, among them P. Schermerhorn, Henry Parish, R. S. Clark, and W. P. Furniss. The map also illustrates the location of the New York Merchants Exchange, a kind of open market where goods could be bought and sold, auctions held, and other business transacted. The upper floors held rental offices, meeting rooms, insurance offices, the Chamber of Commerce, and the Board of Brokers.
At the time Wall Street, though quite wide at William Street, narrowed substantially as it neared its intersection with Broadway. This created a traffic bottleneck affecting two major thoroughfares, one which planners in City Hall were keen to address.
“On the 4th of June, 1851, a resolution was passed by the common council of the city of New-York, providing that Wall-street, on the northerly side, between Broadway and Nassau-streets, should be widened four feet, and that the counsel to the corporation should take the necessary legal measures therefore…” (“In the matter of widening Wall-Street,” in Oliver Lorenzo Barber, ed., Reports of Cases in Law and Equity in the Supreme Court of the State of New York)
In doing so, the City recognized that some private properties between Broadway and Nassau, would necessarily be sacrificed under eminent domain laws. The owners of those properties naturally disputed the proposed widening. Thus, began an intense legal dispute between the property owners, whose parcels would be reduced by 4 feet in depth, and the city of New York. Among the aggrieved parties were powerful banks and wealthy merchants. In particular, the Bank of the Republic owned a lot at the corner of Nassau on which it had already began construction of a new building, which would need to be demolished to accommodate the proposed expansion.
The legal dispute escalated over the course of the year, yielding two critical maps. (Ibid., p. 637) The first, being a map of the property to be taken by the city, was completed on September 17, 1851. Offered here is the second map, completed on October 27th and depicting the “property benefited” by the proposed improvement (Apparently those owners deemed to benefit from the widening of Wall Street were to be assessed to pay the damages incurred by those whose property was taken by eminent domain.) (Ibid., p. 625) Despite several court injunctions, the case was resolved in favor of the City, and the improvement was ultimately completed.
Edwin Smith (fl. 1831 – 1871) was appointed City Surveyor of New York in March 1831 and remained active at least through 1871. He was an extremely productive surveyor with a large corpus of both municipal and commercial work. As he did not publish his work personally, most of his surviving maps are in manuscript form and are held in New York City archives, including the New York Historical Society, the archive of the City Clerk’s Office, the New York Public Library, and the Museum of the City of New York. Nonetheless, some of his survey work seems to have served as the underlying cartography for maps later published by John Bute Holmes (1822 – ca 1888), a contemporary New York Surveyor and map publisher (Holmes was something of a scoundrel, and it is plausible that he would have taken credit for Smith’s work.)
Most likely several copies of Smith’s map would have been prepared and distributed to the relevant parties. Nevertheless, we have been unable to locate another example (Nor have we been able to identify any examples of the partner map indicating property to be taken by eminent domain.) The map bears no markings or other indication that it came from a municipal collection or been submitted as evidence in court. Although we have no firm provenance, the present example could well have rested in a private lawyer’s archive until discovered by estate “pickers” and introduced to the market.
See the details: https://bostonraremaps.com/inventory/1851-wall-street-survey/
A unique 1851 survey of Wall Street between Broadway and Pearl Street, illustrating the future site of the New York Stock Exchange, the residences of important financiers, and the offices of legendary financial institutions.
The present map was prepared by City Surveyor Edwin Smith to inform a legal dispute between the Bank of the Republic and the Common Council of New York over the proposed street widening of Wall Street. It depicts the street between Broadway and Pearl, including some of the world’s most famed and valuable real estate. Of particular interest is the block between New and Broad Streets, now the home of the New York Stock Exchange. The financial institutions shown include the City Bank of New York (modern day Citibank), the Bank of America, the Bank of New York (founded by Hamilton in 1784 and today known as BNY Mellon), the Bank of the State of New York, the Bank of Commerce, Union Bank, National Bank, Phoenix Bank, Merchant’s Bank, the Bank of the Republic, Sun Mutual Insurance, and Atlantic Mutual Insurance, among others. Also shown are the residences of leading New York financiers, businessmen, and political figures, among them P. Schermerhorn, Henry Parish, R. S. Clark, and W. P. Furniss. The map also illustrates the location of the New York Merchants Exchange, a kind of open market where goods could be bought and sold, auctions held, and other business transacted. The upper floors held rental offices, meeting rooms, insurance offices, the Chamber of Commerce, and the Board of Brokers.
At the time Wall Street, though quite wide at William Street, narrowed substantially as it neared its intersection with Broadway. This created a traffic bottleneck affecting two major thoroughfares, one which planners in City Hall were keen to address.
“On the 4th of June, 1851, a resolution was passed by the common council of the city of New-York, providing that Wall-street, on the northerly side, between Broadway and Nassau-streets, should be widened four feet, and that the counsel to the corporation should take the necessary legal measures therefore…” (“In the matter of widening Wall-Street,” in Oliver Lorenzo Barber, ed., Reports of Cases in Law and Equity in the Supreme Court of the State of New York)
In doing so, the City recognized that some private properties between Broadway and Nassau, would necessarily be sacrificed under eminent domain laws. The owners of those properties naturally disputed the proposed widening. Thus, began an intense legal dispute between the property owners, whose parcels would be reduced by 4 feet in depth, and the city of New York. Among the aggrieved parties were powerful banks and wealthy merchants. In particular, the Bank of the Republic owned a lot at the corner of Nassau on which it had already began construction of a new building, which would need to be demolished to accommodate the proposed expansion.
The legal dispute escalated over the course of the year, yielding two critical maps. (Ibid., p. 637) The first, being a map of the property to be taken by the city, was completed on September 17, 1851. Offered here is the second map, completed on October 27th and depicting the “property benefited” by the proposed improvement (Apparently those owners deemed to benefit from the widening of Wall Street were to be assessed to pay the damages incurred by those whose property was taken by eminent domain.) (Ibid., p. 625) Despite several court injunctions, the case was resolved in favor of the City, and the improvement was ultimately completed.
Edwin Smith (fl. 1831 – 1871) was appointed City Surveyor of New York in March 1831 and remained active at least through 1871. He was an extremely productive surveyor with a large corpus of both municipal and commercial work. As he did not publish his work personally, most of his surviving maps are in manuscript form and are held in New York City archives, including the New York Historical Society, the archive of the City Clerk’s Office, the New York Public Library, and the Museum of the City of New York. Nonetheless, some of his survey work seems to have served as the underlying cartography for maps later published by John Bute Holmes (1822 – ca 1888), a contemporary New York Surveyor and map publisher (Holmes was something of a scoundrel, and it is plausible that he would have taken credit for Smith’s work.)
Most likely several copies of Smith’s map would have been prepared and distributed to the relevant parties. Nevertheless, we have been unable to locate another example (Nor have we been able to identify any examples of the partner map indicating property to be taken by eminent domain.) The map bears no markings or other indication that it came from a municipal collection or been submitted as evidence in court. Although we have no firm provenance, the present example could well have rested in a private lawyer’s archive until discovered by estate “pickers” and introduced to the market.
See the details: https://bostonraremaps.com/inventory/1851-wall-street-survey/
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Originally shared by Kristin Milton
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Originally shared by Boston Rare Maps
1907 birds-eye view of the Charles River, annotated by an early user
An interesting bird’s-eye view of the Charles River and Boston’s western suburbs looking southwest from an imaginary point high over Waltham, encompassing much of Dedham, Natick, Needham, Newton, Waltham, Wellesley and other towns. Through it all winds the serpentine Charles River, passing landmarks such as the Waltham Watch Factory, Norumbega Park and the dam and industrial complex at Newton Lower Falls. Particularly striking are the many rail lines, which in the 19th century stimulated the rapid growth of many of the towns shown. Red lines in several places indicate dams requiring short portages.
This example of the view is particularly interesting for its numerous ink notations by one Irving Whiting, reflecting his experiences on outings in September 2014 and May and July 2015. Whiting has carefully noted the locations of hazards in the river, numerous springs, and a campground and suspension bridge in the vicinity of Needham.
According to Pierce and Slautterback, George H. Walker entered the publishing business in or around 1879, and his firm continued in operation until 1927.
“George H. Walker & Co. was the last important lithographic firm to be established in Boston in the nineteenth century…. Walker maintained a consistently high quality of workman-like draftsmanship by employing experienced artists. Joseph L. Jones, C.E. Jorgensen, Richard P. Mallory, F. Pond, and Albert F. Poole drew for the firm. The company is represented in the Boston Athenaeum collection by numerous portraits, sheet music covers, book illustrations, bird’s-eye views, maps, plans for cemeteries and housing developments, and views of residences and factories.” (Pierce & Slautterback, Boston Lithography, p. 159)
See the details up close: https://bostonraremaps.com/inventory/1907-charles-river-birds-eye/
An interesting bird’s-eye view of the Charles River and Boston’s western suburbs looking southwest from an imaginary point high over Waltham, encompassing much of Dedham, Natick, Needham, Newton, Waltham, Wellesley and other towns. Through it all winds the serpentine Charles River, passing landmarks such as the Waltham Watch Factory, Norumbega Park and the dam and industrial complex at Newton Lower Falls. Particularly striking are the many rail lines, which in the 19th century stimulated the rapid growth of many of the towns shown. Red lines in several places indicate dams requiring short portages.
This example of the view is particularly interesting for its numerous ink notations by one Irving Whiting, reflecting his experiences on outings in September 2014 and May and July 2015. Whiting has carefully noted the locations of hazards in the river, numerous springs, and a campground and suspension bridge in the vicinity of Needham.
According to Pierce and Slautterback, George H. Walker entered the publishing business in or around 1879, and his firm continued in operation until 1927.
“George H. Walker & Co. was the last important lithographic firm to be established in Boston in the nineteenth century…. Walker maintained a consistently high quality of workman-like draftsmanship by employing experienced artists. Joseph L. Jones, C.E. Jorgensen, Richard P. Mallory, F. Pond, and Albert F. Poole drew for the firm. The company is represented in the Boston Athenaeum collection by numerous portraits, sheet music covers, book illustrations, bird’s-eye views, maps, plans for cemeteries and housing developments, and views of residences and factories.” (Pierce & Slautterback, Boston Lithography, p. 159)
See the details up close: https://bostonraremaps.com/inventory/1907-charles-river-birds-eye/
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Originally shared by Kristin Milton
This is pretty cool - Christie's will auction a newly discovered map - one of six surviving copies of the Waldseemüller gores.
Gores are the term for the paper that is cut out and stuck on a sphere to make it a world map. This copy was never cut out.
Gores are the term for the paper that is cut out and stuck on a sphere to make it a world map. This copy was never cut out.
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Originally shared by Maps Mania
Mapping Population in 3D
UK developers Parallel have released an interactive map which visualizes UK population density in 3D. Their ONS Population Estimates map shows the population density in each UK Lower Super Output Area (LSOA) and the age breakdown of the population in each L...
UK developers Parallel have released an interactive map which visualizes UK population density in 3D. Their ONS Population Estimates map shows the population density in each UK Lower Super Output Area (LSOA) and the age breakdown of the population in each L...
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Ski slopes with difficulty classification, cross country ski tracks, slope gradients... check winter maps in Locus!
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