Charts for Marylanders

Virginia John Smith
Oxford, England, 1612
Huntingfield Corporation Map Collection, MSA SC 1399-1-101

Captain John Smith's map was the first detailed drawing of the Chesapeake Bay's shoreline configuration. This map and its derivatives lured immigrants to the region as Europeans became aware of the bay, its extensive river system, and open land. While John Smith's map served as the prototype for a number of charts of the tidewater area published from 1612 to 1673, it was not terribly useful as a chart since it lacked the detailed information needed for navigation

Virginia, Maryland, Pennsilvania, East & West New Jarsey
John Thornton
London, 1689
Huntingfield Corporation Map Collection, MSA SC 1399-1-482

Thornton's chart was the earliest usable chart of the Chesapeake Bay. Based on Augustine Herrman's enormous four-sheet map map of 1673, this one-sheet version was used by captains of the rapidly growing tobacco fleet. Various publishers continued to print this chart for over a century, long after better charts had rendered it obsolete.

A New and Accurate Chart of the Bay of Chesapeake, with all the Shoals, Channels, Islands, Entrances, Soundings and Sailing-marks Anthony Smith, attributed
London, 1776
Huntingfield Corporation Map Collection, MSA SC 1399-1-427

This chart, attributed to St. Mary's County pilot Anthony Smith, was used by both British and American naval forces in the Revolutionary War and the War of 1812. It augmented the soundings and bottom conditions on the Hoxton chart of 1735, gave greater coverage of the rivers, and added a longitudinal scale and sailing directions.

To the Merchants of London Trading to Virginia and Maryland, this Mapp of Chesapeack Walter Hoxton
London, 1735
Courtesy of the Maryland Historical Society

Water Hoxton was a British tobacco ship captain whose twenty-three voyages to Maryland provided him with personal knowledge of the bay. He recorded his observations and discoveries on this chart, the first to show extensive soundings and shoals. Hoxton's chart was also the first of the bay to indicate magnetic variation. Because Hoxton's chart was the best available guide to the bay, few copies survived their hard usage.

Chart No. 20, Natural Oyster Bars, Calvert and St. Mary's Counties, Maryland U.S. Coast Survey
Washington, DC, 1908
Courtesy of the Calvert Marine Museum, 69.82.1

This chart was one of forty-three produced by the Maryland Oyster Survey, a cooperative effort between the Maryland Shell Fish Commission, the United States Bureau of Fisheries, and the United States Coast & Geodetic Survey. The oyster survey was conducted from 1906 to 1912 under the provision of an act of Congress to survey "the natural oyster beds, bars, and rocks in the waters within the State of Maryland." The purpose of the survey was to promote economic development of the oyster industry. By identifying the boundaries of the bay's natural oyster beds, efforts could be made to protect them while barren areas could be cultivated. The total area covered by the survey was 1,600 square miles.

Chart No. 20, Natural Oyster Bars, Calvert and St. Mary's Counties, Maryland U.S. Coast Survey
Washington, DC, 1908
Courtesy of the Calvert Marine Museum, 69.82.1

This chart was one of forty-three produced by the Maryland Oyster Survey, a cooperative effort between the Maryland Shell Fish Commission, the United States Bureau of Fisheries, and the United States Coast & Geodetic Survey. The oyster survey was conducted from 1906 to 1912 under the provision of an act of Congress to survey "the natural oyster beds, bars, and rocks in the waters within the State of Maryland." The purpose of the survey was to promote economic development of the oyster industry. By identifying the boundaries of the bay's natural oyster beds, efforts could be made to protect them while barren areas could be cultivated. The total area covered by the survey was 1,600 square miles.