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MAP #: 323S5

CARTOGRAPHER : SMALL, W.F.

DATE: 1823

SHORT TITLE : A MAP SHEWING THE EXTENT OF THE SUSQUEHANNA COUNTRY

REMAINING TITLE & ID : AND ITS PRACTICABLE CANAL ROUTES AS DESIGNATED BY THE SUSQUEHANNA COMMISSIONERS 1823 (NO CARTOUCHE, BOTTOM LEFT CORNER). "B.T. WELCH SC." (RIGHT, BOTTOM MARGIN). "A TABLE OF DISTANCES ON THE MAP" (TOP LEFT CORNER). THE MAP DATA EXTENDS THROUGH THE BOTTOM BORDER. THE REVERSE SIDE IS BLANK. LONGITUDE (NOT SHOWN). LATITUDE (NOT SHOWN).

DATE OF PUBLICATION : S1823
PLACE OF PUBLICATION : BALTIMORE
PUBLISHER : FIELDING LUCAS, JR.
LANGUAGE(S) : EN
SIZE (HEIGHT X WIDTH) : 26.7 X 30.5 CM.
SIZE - OTHER DATA : 30.7 X 34.2 CM. OM
SCALE - (RF) 1: : 2,200,000
SCALE - OTHER DATA : APPROXIMATE
LIB. OF CONGRESS # : -
Md. HALL OF RECORDS # 1 : G1399-665
HUNTINGFIELD ACQ. # 1 : HR013-IGU*
REGION CATEGORY : GENERAL AREA MAP OF SIGNIFICANCE TO A MD/CHESAPEAKE COLLECTION (3)
SPECIAL CATEGORY(IES) : PENNSYLVANIA MAP PRIMARILY (14)
: FRY & JEFFERSON DERIVATIVE (15)
: CANAL MAP (21)
# SHEETS TO MAP : 1
MAP ORIENTATION : N IS AT THE TOP OF THE MAP.
RELIEF SHOWN ? : YES
HYDROGRAPHIC DATA : NONE.
CARTOUCHE : NONE (1)
BORDER : PLAIN (2)
PRIME MERIDIAN(S) : NONE.
SEE ALSO MAP #s : 323L5.
BEST INFO SOURCE : THE COMMISSIONER'S REPORT IS THE BEST FOUND.
DESCRIPTION : THIS MAP EXTENDS FROM SOUTH OF WASHINGTON, D.C. TO LAKE ONTARIO AND FROM THE HUDSON RIVER TO EASTERN OHIO. IT WAS INCLUDED AT THE END OF A REPORT BY THE MARYLAND COMMISSIONERS ON A PROPOSED CANAL FROM BALTIMORE TO CONEWAGO, PUBLISHED BY FIELDING LUCAS, JR. IN 1823. ITS PURPOSE IS TO SHOW THE EXTENSIVE AREA OF PENNSYLVANIA THAT WOULD BE SERVED BY A CANAL FROM YORKHAVEN ON THE SUSQUEHANNA, ABOVE THE FALLS, TO HAVRE-DE-GRACE AND BALTIMORE. IT ALSO SHOWS, WITH SOME ADDITIONAL CANALS, THAT BALTIMORE COULD BE CONNECTED WITH LAKE ERIE. THE COMMISSION WAS APPOINTED IN THE DECEMBER SESSION OF THE MARYLAND GENERAL ASSEMBLY AND ITS MEMBERS WERE THEODORICK BLAND, GEORGE WINCHESTER AND JOHN PATTERSON. THE CHIEF ENGINEER ON THE PROJECT WAS J. GEDDES. THIS MAP ACCOMPANIES A MUCH LARGER SCALE MAP, DONE BY FIELDING LUCAS, JR. OF THE AREA FROM YORKHAVEN TO HAVRE-DE-GRACE TO BALTIMORE, IN WHICH THE TOPOGRAPHY OF THE AREA THAT WOULD BE TRAVERSED BY THE CANAL IS SHOWN IN DETAIL. MATHEWS NOTES THAT THE MAP ADDS NOTHING TO THE PRE-EXISTING KNOWLEDGE OF THE AREA.

THE FOLLOWING NOTE IS INSERTED ON THE PAGE PRIOR TO THE MAP DESCRIBED HEREIN: "NOTE.- THE TOPOGRAPHICAL MAP OF THE RIVER MENTIONED IN THE COMMISSIONERS' REPORT, HAS BEEN SINCE EXTENDED, AND NOW EXHIBITS AN ACCURATE VIEW OF THE SUSQUEHANNA, FROM OWEGO, IN NEW YORK, TO TIDE: AND THENCE TO BALTIMORE. ITS EXECUTION DOES GREAT CREDIT TO THE TALENTS AND INDUSTRY OF MR. W.F. SMALL, ASSISTANT ENGINEER. [SIGNED] COM'RS." B.T. WELCH, AN ENGRAVER FOR FIELDING LUCAS, JR. AT THE TIME, ENGRAVED THE MAP. THE MAP, WHILE REDRAWN BY WELCH, IS REALLY ONLY A MODIFIED COPY OF THE FRY & JEFFERSON MAP, PUBLISHED SOME SEVENTY-FIVE YEARS EARLIER, ACCORDING TO MATHEWS.

THE COMMISSION'S WORK AND THE MAPS WERE DONE TWO YEARS BEFORE THE CHESAPEAKE-DELAWARE CANAL WAS STARTED AND FIVE YEARS BEFORE WORK BEGAN ON THE CHESAPEAKE AND POTOMAC CANAL. IT WAS A PERIOD OF INTENSE INTEREST IN CANAL BUILDING BECAUSE AT THAT TIME TRANSPORTATION COSTS BY CANAL WERE ON THE ORDER OF ONE-TENTH THE COST OF THOSE BY ROAD AND THE DEMAND FOR NORTHERN AND WESTERN EXPANSION WAS GROWING.

DATA IS PRIMARILY FROM THE COMMISSIONER'S REPORT, FROM MATHEWS, AND FROM EXAMINATION OF THE COPY OF THE MAP AND REPORT IN THE HUNTINGFIELD COLLECTION.

EDITION & STATE INFO : ONLY A SINGLE EDITION AND STATE OF THIS MAP ARE KNOWN.

HFC OWNERSHIP DATA : THE HUNTINGFIELD COLLECTION HAS A COPY OF THIS MAP ON ACIDIC PAPER, WITH SOME BROWING ALONG WITH THE REPORT BY THE COMMISSIONERS, WHICH IT ACCOMPANIED WHEN IT WAS RELEASED. THE MAP HAS BEEN DETACHED AND MOUNTED IN PLASTIC FOR CONSERVATION PURPOSES. IT HAS AN ACQ. # OF HR013-IGU* AND A MDHR # OF G1399-665.

BIBLIGRAPHICAL REFS. : REPORT BY THE MARYLAND COMMISSIONERS ON A PROPOSED CANAL FROM BALTIMORE TO CONEWAGO., FIELDING LUCAS, JR., BALTIMORE, 1823; MATHEWS, EDWARD BENNETT, "THE MAPS AND MAP-MAKERS OF MARYLAND", MARYLAND GEOLOGICAL SURVEY SPECIAL PUBLICATION VOLUME II, PART IIIb, THE JOHNS HOPKINS PRESS, BALTIMORE, 1898, PP. 409-410.

March 23, 1989


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