The 1830's saw the appearance
of traveler's pocket maps, which were atlas maps printed on
vellum type paper and folded into a small leather case. Many of
the earlier ones were published by S. Augustus Mitchell. The
Allegheny Portage Railroad, part of the Pennsylvania Canal and
now a National Historic Site, was completed in this decade. The
Portage had 10 inclined planes with interconnecting rail lines
and carried goods and canal boats over the Allegheny Front from
Hollidaysburg to Johnstown. The canal was never a financial
success and was bought out by the Pennsylvania Railroad in 1857.
Three counties were created
in this decade: Juniata (seat at Mifflintown) in 1831, Monroe (Stroudsburg)
in 1836, and Clinton (Lock Haven) in 1839.
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1830
MAP OF THE WYOMING & LACKAWANNA VALLEYS by Geo. Jones,
principally from a map constructed by Col. John L. Butler
of Wilkesbarre. A. Dolittle Sc. This map of uncertain
date shows the Susquehanna River area of Wilkes-Barre and
Pittston and the Lackawanna River valley up to Carbondale;
there was no Scranton. There is an elevation map at the
bottom with title, and the mountains are shown by fine
hachures. Dolittle died in 1832 so the plate was engraved
before then. The Lackawanna Canal was probably built in
the late 1820's, so this map likely dates circa 1828-32.
Coal was a major interest in these parts in the 19th
century and is the theme of this map; a slew of little
markers designate exposed coal beds. There is also
the "Indian & British Line" and the "Line
of Settlers." Blank verso. Scale: 1 inch = 2.5 miles.
Size: 8 x 14.5 inches. |
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1831
PENNSYLVANIA, J. H. Young Sc. Published by A. Finley. The
map is dated 1820-31 by counties shown and comes from
Anthony Finley's A New General Atlas, published
in 1824, 1829, 1830, 1831, 1833 per Lister. Finley also
published A New American Atlas in 1826. Most of
the map is shown here. This is one of the first atlas
maps to show the Philadelphia and Columbia Railroad (the
red line across Chester and Lancaster Counties) completed
in 1834, the first steel rail line in the state. It also
shows the Pennsylvania Canal and other canals (the darker
lines following the rivers). The earliest survey map that
shows a 'tramroad' was drawn in October, 1809, in
Pennsylvania by John Thomson and titled 'Draft Exhibiting...the
Railroad as contemplated by Thomas Leiper Esq. from his
stone sawmill and quarries on Crum Creek to his landing
on Ridley Creek', see Modelski, who unfortunately does
not show the map. Thomson helped none other than Reading
Howell construct the first practical wooden tracks for a
tramroad. Blank verso. Scale: 1 inch = 18 miles. Size: 14
x 20 inches. |
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1832
MAP OF THE STATE OF PENNSYLVANIA COMPILED FROM THE LATEST
AUTHORITIES, published by S. Augustus Mitchell,
Philadelphia 1832. This is an early traveler's pocket map
of Pennsylvania and one of the first maps of the state
published by Mitchell. It contains insets of Philadelphia
and Pittsburg and folds into a 3.5 x 2 inch red leather
case with the title PENNSYLVANIA TRAVELLER. The map is
attached to the back cover and on the inside front cover
is Mitchell's Philadelphia address. Roads are shown with
distances between points. There are no rail lines. This
map, unlike the 1838 one shown below, is printed on
ordinary paper. H. S. Tanner had published an earlier
Pennsylvania pocket map in 1830. Longitude from
Washington. Blank verso. Scale: 1 inch = 30 miles. Size:
8 x 10.5 inches |
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1833
PENNSYLVANIA, page 84 from The School Geography by
John J. Clute. The map dates 1820-31 by the counties
shown. The School Geography by
John J. Clute was published by Samuel Wood &
Sons, New York 1833, with 363 pages, illustrations and
maps according to an LOC listing. The verso is page 83
with text on Pennsylvania. This small map shows outlines
of the counties with each county seat. Longitude from
Washington at top, Greenwich at bottom, blank verso.
Scale: 1 inch = 55 miles. Size: 3.5 x 5.5 inches. |
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1834
NORTH AMERICA INDEX MAP TO CANADA AND THE UNITED STATES,
published Septr. 29th 1834 by Baldwin & Cradock 47
Paternoster Row, London. J. & C. Walker Sculpt. This
is an index map for an atlas put out by the Society for
the Diffusion of Usefull Knowledge. The SDUK (as known)
was primarily British. The maps they produced beginning
circa 1830 were among the first from steel plates
prepared by drypoint steel engraving, see Ristow pages
256, 308. The map covers the east coast west to the
Mississippi. The 1830 census by state (including slaves)
is at lower left; at lower right is the elevation outline
of 5 canals including the Pennsylvania Canal. Many towns
are named. Longitude west from London, blank verso. Scale:
1 inch = 140 miles. Size: 14.25 x 12.5 inches. |
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1835
PENNSYLVANIA CANALS, RAILROADS, THE COAL REGIONS,
AND NUMBER OF INHABITANTS IN EACH COUNTY OF THE STATE,
engraved for The Casket published by S. C.
Atkinson, J. Yeager Sc. This map comes from S. C.
Atkinson's Casket of Gems of Literature, Wit, and
Sentiment, Philadelphia, January 1835. It can be
dated 1831-36 by counties shown. Distances to major
cities are given across the top and county populations
across the bottom. The 1830's and 40's saw a flurry of 'railroad
and canal' maps (see Modelski) and this is one of the
earliest. The Union Canal along the Schuylkill River and
over to the Susquehanna was built in the 1820's. The
Pennsylvania Canal was begun in 1826 and completed from
the Susquehanna River to Hollidaysburg in 1834, running
along the Juniata River. The western section from
Johnstown to Pittsburgh was begun at the same time and
opened in 1830. It ran up the Allegheny to the
Kiskiminetas River and then up the Conemaugh. Going from
Hollidaysburg to Johnstown required conquering the
Allegheny Front and was accomplished with the famous
Allegheny Portage Railroad, now a National Historic Site,
built 1830-33. Blank verso. Scale: 1 inch = 30 miles.
Size: 8.75 x 12 inches. |
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1836
PENNSYLVANIA by David H. Burr, New York. Entered
according to act of Congress 1836 by Illman & Pilbrow.
The map can be dated 1820-31 by counties shown. It is
likely from Burr's A New Universal Atlas
published by D. S. Stone, New York, and dated c1835 by
Lister. Blank verso. Scale: 1 inch = 25 miles. Size: 12 x
13.5 inches. |
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1837 N.
JERSEY, PENNSYLVANIA DELAWARE & MARYLAND, entered
according to Act of Congress on the 9th day et March _ by
S. G. Goodrich of Mass. The map can be dated 1831-36 by
the counties shown. Goodrich published The First Book
of History for Children and Youth using the
pseudonym Peter Parley circa 1837, which contained many
maps and is the likely source of this one. A copy
published by Jenks, Palmer & Co., Boston, was dated
1839 and contained a map with this title. Early rail
lines west to Harrisburg and north to New York from
Philadelphia are shown. Goodrich was a prolific publisher
of children's books, most of them with the nom de plume
of Peter Parley, see Michalski. Blank verso. Scale: 1
inch = 72 miles. Size: 4.5 x 6 inches. |
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1838
THE TOURIST POCKET MAP OF PENNSYLVANIA EXHIBITING ITS
INTERNAL IMPROVEMENTS, ROADS, DISTANCES, &C., by J. H.
Young, D. Haines Sc., published by S. Augustus Mitchell,
Philadelphia 1838. Most of the map is shown here along
with the cover. It has a profile of the Pennsylvania
Canal across the top and insets of Philadelphia and the
Lehigh and Schuykill coal regions. This particular map
design, with the canal profile across the top, was
printed in various forms by several publishers (Mitchell,
Tanner, Cowperthwait) from the 1830's to the 1860's. The
design was not unique to Pennsylvania, some maps of
Maryland and Virginia had the profile of the Chesapeake
and Ohio Canal along the top. The map is printed on
vellum type paper (apparently thought to resist folding
better) and folds into the 5 x 3 inch leather cover with
the title shown. This is one of the famous traveler's
pocket maps popular in the 19th century and Mitchell
published his first one of Pennsylvania in 1832. S. A.
Mitchell, along with his son S. A. Junior, was one of the
most prolific map publishers of the century, see Ristow.
Similar to No. 350 in Simonetti. Blank verso. Scale: 1
inch = 25 miles. Size: 12.75 x 15 inches. |
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1839
MAP OF PRESQU' ILE BAY ON ERIE HARBOR, surveyed by
Capt. W. G. Williams, U. S. Topl. Engs. 1839. This is a
black & white map of the Erie harbor, with the city
shown only figuratively. The western side of the isle is
eroded and a proposed harbor entrance shown. This
entrance was never constructed; instead the area was
filled in with a breakwater and a road built out onto the
island turning it into a peninsula. Today Presque Isle is
a state park, and constant maintainance is needed to keep
this area from washing away. Blank verso. Scale: 1 inch =
2000 feet. Size: 10 x 17 inches. |
