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MAP #: 334P5

CARTOGRAPHER : POUSSIN, GUILLAUME TELL

DATE: 1834

SHORT TITLE : CANAL DE LA CHESAPEAKE A LA DELAWARE.

REMAINING TITLE & ID : (MAP ON BOTTOM RIGHT). "CANAL DE LOUISVILLE" (TOP RIGHT MAP). "PLAN DU CANAL DE JONCTION DU MISSISSIPPI AU LAC PONCHARTRAIN". (LEFT SIDE). THESE ARE THE TITLES OF THREE SEPARATE MAPS ON A SINGLE SHEET. "TRAVAUX CIVILS DES ETATS-UNIS." (LEFT TOP MARGIN). "PLANCHE III." (RIGHT TOP MARGIN). "DESSINE PAR LE MAJOR POUSSIN" (LEFT BOTTOM MARGIN). "GRAVE PAR ADAM." (RIGHT BOTTOM MARGIN). ON THE CHESAPEAKE- DELAWARE CANAL MAP, "PLAN DU TRACE, SITUATION DE ECLUSE, NIVELLEMENT GENERAL ET PROFIL DU CANAL." (BELOW TITLE). "ETAT DE LA DELAWARE." (ABOVE AND TO THE LEFT OF THE TITLE). "ECHELLE DU PLAN ET DES LONGUEURS DU PROFIL." (BELOW CANAL PLAN, SHOWING A SCALE OF 7.9 CM. = 6 MILES). CROSS SECTION OF THE CANAL (BELOW SCALE). LONGITUDINAL PROFILE OF CANAL, WITH ELEVATIONS AND LOCKS (BELOW CROSS SECTION). "ECHELLE DES HAUTEURS." (SHOWING HEIGHT IN METERS, BELOW LONGITUDINAL PROFILE). THERE IS NOTHING ON THE REVERSE SIDE. LONGITUDE AND LATITUDE (NOT SHOWN).

DATE OF PUBLICATION : S1834
PLACE OF PUBLICATION : PARIS
PUBLISHER : ANSELIN & CARILIAN-GOEURY
LANGUAGE(S) : FR
SIZE (HEIGHT X WIDTH) : 37.5 X 53.5 CM. (C-D CANAL MAP 27.2 X 25.6 CM)
SIZE - OTHER DATA : 49 X 68 CM. OM
SCALE - (RF) 1: : 122,230
SCALE - OTHER DATA : FOR C-D CANAL MAP
LIB. OF CONGRESS # : -
Md. HALL OF RECORDS # 1 : MSA SC1399-168
HUNTINGFIELD ACQ. # 1 : N026-DEG
REGION CATEGORY : DETAILED MAP OF PART OF THE MD/CHESAPEAKE AREA (2)
SPECIAL CATEGORY(IES) : CANAL MAP (21)
# SHEETS TO MAP : 1
MAP ORIENTATION : N IS AT THE TOP.
RELIEF SHOWN ? : YES
HYDROGRAPHIC DATA : NONE
CARTOUCHE : NONE (1)
BORDER : PLAIN (2)
PRIME MERIDIAN(S) : NONE
SEE ALSO MAP #s : -
BEST INFO SOURCE : DELAWARE HISTORY MAGAZINE AND PHILLIPS, ATLASES, ARE THE BEST FOUND.
DESCRIPTION : THIS MAP OF THE CHESAPEAKE-DELAWARE CANAL WAS PUBLISHED WITHIN FIVE YEARS AFTER THE CANAL WAS COMPLETED IN 1829 AND IS ONE OF THE FEW LARGE SCALE EARLY MAPS OF THE CANAL. IT WAS MAP #3 IN G.T. POUSSIN'S TRAVAUX D'AMELIORATIONS INTERIEURES PROJETES OU EXECUTES PAR LE GOUVERNEMENT GENERAL DES ETATS-UNIS D'AMERIQUE, DE 1824-1831, PARIS: ANSELIN & CARILIAN-GOEURY. POUSSIN WAS BORN IN 1794 AND DIED IN 1896.

THE LEFT SIDE OF THE FOLIO SIZE SHEET GIVES THE PLAN OF THE CANAL BETWEEN THE MISSISSIPPI AND LAKE PONTCHARTRAIN. THE RIGHT SIDE GIVES A SMALL PROFILE OF THE LOUISVILLE CANAL AT THE TOP AND THE MAP OF THE CHESAPEAKE-DELAWARE CANAL COVERING THE LOWER THREE-QUARTERS OF THE SHEET. BELOW THIS MAP IS A SCALE IN MILES (5 MILES = 6.5 CM). BELOW THAT IS A CROSS-CUT PROFILE OF THE CANAL AND FURTHER DOWN ON THE PAGE IS A LENGTHWISE PROFILE OF THE SURFACE AREA AROUND THE CANAL, WITH AN EXAGGERATED VERTICAL SCALE FOR CLARITY. A SCALE OF HEIGHT IN METERS (50 METERS = 6.6 CM) IS LOCATED JUST ABOVE THE NEAT LINE AT THE BOTTOM. THE FULL TITLE OF THIS LATTER MAP, GIVEN AT THE TOP CENTER OF THE MAP IS "CANAL DE LA CHESAPEAKE A LA DELAWARE. PLAN DU TRACE, SITUATION DES ECLUSE NOUVELLEMENT GENERAL ET PROFIL DU CANAL." IN THE TOP LEFT CORNER, ABOVE A SHORT CENTERED LINE IS "ETAT DE LA DELAWARE." THE LONGITUDINAL PROFILE OF THE SURFACE SHOWS THREE CANAL LOCKS.

AS EARLY AS 1764 A SURVEY WAS MADE FOR A CANAL ROUTE BETWEEN THE CHESAPEAKE AND DELAWARE BAYS. A COMPANY WAS ORGANIZED IN 1803, BUT LANGUISHED AND WAS NOT REVIVED UNTIL 1822. THE CANAL, 13 5/8 MILES LONG WITH THREE LOCKS, WAS FINALLY BUILT FROM 1825-1829. IT COST $165,000 PER MILE, MAKING IT THE MOST EXPENSIVE WATERWAY OF ITS TIME. A CUT NINETY FEET DEEP THROUGH EARTH AND STONE WAS THE HEAVIEST ENGINEERING PROJECT YET UNDERTAKEN IN AMERICA. IN 1919 THE GOVERNMENT PURCHASED IT AND MADE IT INTO A SEA LEVEL CANAL.

THE ORIGINAL CANAL WAS LARGELY FINANCED BY MERCANTILE INTERESTS IN PHILADELPHIA, WHO WERE PRIMARILY INTERESTED IN DIVERTING SOME OF THE TRADE TO AND FROM THE SUSQUEHANNA RIVER, WHICH SERVED THE INTERIOR OF PENNSYLVANIA TO PHILADELPHIA FROM BALTIMORE.

DATA IS FROM A THREE PART STUDY ENTITLED THE EARLY HISTORY OF THE CHESAPEAKE AND DELAWARE CANAL IN THE DELAWARE HISTORY MAGAZINE BY RALPH GRAY, AND PHILLIPS, ATLASES, I, # 1265.

EDITION & STATE INFO : ONLY A SINGLE EDITION AND STATE OF THE MAP IS THOUGHT TO EXIST, ALTHOUGH FURTHER RESEARCH IS NECESSARY TO CONFIRM THIS.

HFC OWNERSHIP DATA : THE HUNTINGFIELD COLLECTION HAS A BEAUTIFUL BLACK AND WHITE COPY OF THIS MAP ON HEAVY PAPER WITH WIDE MARGINS. IT HAS A TEAR IN THE BOTTOM MARGIN AT THE FOLD WHICH HAS BEEN REPAIRED AND DOES NOT AFFECT THE ENGRAVING. IT HAS AN ACQ. # OF N026-DEG AND A MDHR # OF MSA SC1399-168.

BIBLIGRAPHICAL REFS. : GRAY, RALPH D., "THE EARLY HISTORY OF THE CHESAPEAKE AND DELAWARE CANAL", IN 3 PARTS, DELAWARE HISTORY MAGAZINE, WILMINGTON: HISTORICAL SOCIETY OF DELAWARE, VOL VIII NO. 3, MARCH, 1959, 207-264, VOL VIII NO 4, SEPTEMBER, 1959, 354-397, VOL IX NO. 1, APRIL, 1960, 66-98, ;PHILLIPS, PHILIP LEE, A LIST OF GEOGRAPHICAL ATLASES IN THE LIBRARY OF CONGRESS, AMSTERDAM: THEATRVM ORBIS TERRARVM, LTD, A 1971 REPRINT OF A 1909 LIBRARY OF CONGRESS PUBLICATION, # 1265, 697-698; GILPIN, JOSHUA, A MEMOIR ON THE RISE, PROGRESS AND PRESENT STATE OF THE CHESAPEAKE AND DELAWARE CANAL, ACCOCMPANIED WITH ORIGINAL DOCUMENTS AND MAPS, WILMINGTON: [PUBLISHER ?], 1821; TOOLEY, R.V., TOOLEY'S DICTIONARY OF MAPMAKERS, TRING, HERTFORDSHIRE: MAP COLLECTOR PUBLICATIONS, LTD., 1979 (1ST ED.), 517; MORRISON, RUSSELL ETAL, ON THE MAP, CHESTERTOWN, MD: HUNTINGFIELD CORPORATION, 1983, 80, 82 (FIG. 50).

February 28, 1993


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