1771 Piece of New England Map

[Rattlesnake Gal]

I found this wonderful map of New England that was published in 1771. It is fascinating to see what the cartographers came up with back then. I picked out a goodly portion of The Lakes Region to share with you. It would have been wonderful to get the whole map, but it is huge and past my computer's abilities. For some reason the LoC (http://memory.loc.gov/ammem/index.html) links are temporary, so if you want to look at the full map, you will have to search for it. Sorry!

http://www.winnipesaukee.com/photopost/data/15014/medium/1771_Lakes_Region.jpg

For the super-sized version, click here (http://www.winnipesaukee.com/photopost/showphoto.php?photo=12891&size=big&cat=).

This morning I was trying to figure out just what Kusumpe Pond was. I can only guess it is Squam Lake, but the Pemigewasset River doesn’t seem to flow from there, it seems to come from the White Mountains.

Other interesting items of notice:

The Weirs is The Wares
The Kings forest is over in Alton
Endikots Tree
Offippa Pond, which I suspect would be Ossipee

What other things do you notice about this map?

[mcdude]

This map is so old that Alton hasn't even been established yet! It is still part of New Durham and though the map doesn't note it, it was referred to as Durham Gore at the time.

From the town of Alton website
“A Portrait in Granite” was the description of Alton by historian Barton M. Griffin. With its five mile frontage along the Alton Bay shoreline and bordering the Town of New Durham; Alton was originally part of New Durham Gore a name derived from its rocky terrain carved into the mountains, more specifically Mt. Major. First settled in the middle 1770’s, the early settlers were successful after eight petitions to the Court to change the name to Alton in 1796, and in March of 1797 the Incorporation Ceremony took place. Three Selectmen were elected to oversee the business of the Town. The 1790 census showed 445 residents in Town.

[SIKSUKR]

RG,The Pemi river starts at Cannon MT.I love how Winni is called a "pond".Cool map thanks.It is confusing after looking at todays map though.Here's how I read it.
Looking at where Paugus would be,it would seem the first bulge is Paugus Bay,the second bulge is Opechee and the third Winnisquam.The finger over where it says"the wares" I would assume is Merideth Bay.I would then think that the fingers above that would be Center Harbor and Greens Basin.

[Merrymeeting]

Alton Bay is Merrymeeting Bay.

The Merrymeeting River flows toward Dover rather than into Winnipesaukee (I've heard this may have been true at one point)

Thanks RG. Another great find!

[Frank]

I found this wonderful map of New England that was published in 1771. It is fascinating to see what the cartographers came up with back then. I picked out a goodly portion of The Lakes Region to share with you. It would have been wonderful to get the whole map, but it is huge and past my computer's abilities. For some reason the LoC (http://memory.loc.gov/ammem/index.html) links are temporary, so if you want to look at the full map, you will have to search for it. Sorry!



Other interesting items of notice:

Offippa Pond, which I suspect would be Ossipee

What other things do you notice about this map?

In that time period, what we would read now as a small 'f' really was the "long s" and it was pronounced like an 's'. A good example is here, check the spelling of "Paradise Lost" in this picture: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Image:Milton_paradise.jpg.

So Offipa on that map would have been pronounced like Ossipa. See also Epfom and Barnftead on the map, which would have been pronounced like Epsom and Barnstead.

- Frank

[tis]

I think the old timers all called the lake a "pond". I rememer my Mom saying that her grandmother always referred to the lake as the pond. In those days, it was nothing more than a watering hole for the cows.