Types of Maps and Their Uses

Maps of the White Mountains come in all shapes, sizes, technologies, and purposes. We can describe maps by fitting them into categories, but often the categories can overlap. This exhibition includes examples from several categories of maps including topographic, political, thematic, tourist and souvenir, street, bird’s eye, cadastral, panorama, and three-dimensional maps.

PANORAMIC MAPS

The Most Perfect Map Ever Issued. Circa 1880. Courtesy of Adam Apt

Panoramic summit views were pioneered in the late 18th century. Panoramas of scenic places and events were very popular in the 19th century, usually displayed in large, round rooms where visitors could stand at the center of the scene. Summit panoramas in particular, on the printed page or on large paper sheets or foldouts, with their identification of the visible distant summits, were popular then and continue to be published to this day.

Click here to learn more about 'The Most Perfect Map Ever Issued'

“The Most Perfect Map Ever Issued” is a ludicrous but charming representation of the White Mountain terrain. It also has a curious and obscure publishing history. In one form or another, it was printed many times, indicating that it was much loved. It is undated but presumably was published no later than 1880, because derivative versions bear that date. Some versions are much smaller, some have additional information, some less. It was used as late as 1904, when it formed the base for a map of an auto rally and gala.

BIRD’S-EYE VIEW MAPS

Birds-Eye View from Summit of Mt. Washington. Boston and Maine Railroad. Boston. 1902. Courtesy of David Govatski

Unlike most maps that represent abstractly the land as seen from straight above, bird’s-eye view maps instead create an idealized image of what the viewer might actually see if hovering in the air over the land, while still identifying natural and man-made features that a topographical map might show.

THEMATIC MAPS

Forest Density and Land Classification of Northern New Hampshire. Courtesy of Adam Apt

These maps illustrate a distinct subject of interest over a geographic region. Some examples in this exhibition are geological maps, a map of forests, a map of canoe routes, and a map showing areas where ragweed pollen is prevalent. 

POLITICAL MAPS 

Map of New Hampshire. Philip Carrigain. Philadelphia. 1816.

These maps have little to do with politics, as we normally use that word, but, rather, are maps that show the boundaries of political entities, like countries, states, counties, and towns. They may include topographic or other features, but only to show those features in relation to the boundaries. Maps of New Hampshire in this exhibition are political maps. 

TOPOGRAPHIC MAPS

Topographic maps show the layout of the terrain, with features of the land’s surface, and where these are located, with respect to each other, and often with respect to latitude and longitude. Often, topographic maps will indicate elevations or altitudes, sometimes with contour lines, sometimes with another graphical representation, and sometimes just by assigning number, representing heights, to points on the map. Hiking maps are a kind of topographic map. 

Map of the White Mountains of New Hampshire. George P. Bond. Cambridge. 1853. Courtesy of Adam Apt

Click here to read more the first topographical map of the White Mountains

George P. Bond’s is the first topographical map of the White Mountains. Bond (1825-1865) was the son of William Cranch Bond, the first director of the Harvard College Observatory, at the time America’s premier astronomical observatory. George Bond, too, was employed at the observatory, and on his father’s death, became its second director. Bond’s first recorded visit to the White Mountains, in the company of other Harvard faculty members, was in 1849. He soon conceived a desire to map the region. He returned to the mountains many times, including a working vacation a few months before his early death, from tuberculosis.

He began his survey work in 1850. In 1851, he was sent by his father to Europe to establish relations with the major European observatories, though he took time out to see the Alps, and even on this trip, he was corresponding about instruments to borrow for completing his survey of the White Mountains. He returned to New Hampshire in 1852 to continue his survey.

This map is his only non-scientific publication. The map was accompanied by engravings of drawings by Benjamin Champney (1817-1907). It was reissued, unchanged, on India paper, in the first edition of Benjamin Willey’s Incidents in White Mountain History (1856), which is the version on display here.

All the summit elevations, rounded to the nearest 100 feet, are from Bond’s own measurements. Many White Mountain place names make their first appearance on a map here, though they may have been mentioned in texts. For example, this is the first appearance of “Tuckerman Ravine” on a map.

The names of Mounts Adams and Jefferson are the reverse of present usage and contradicted how many in Bond’s own time identified the peaks. Bond asked local folk the names of the various mountains, and he records Mr. Thompson, the proprietor of the Glen House, told him, “The prominent alpine peak north of Mt Washington was called Mt Jefferson + the smaller one next Mt W. was named Mt Adams. The reason he gave was that Adams was the next president in succession to Washington and that Jefferson was the tallest man.”

TOURIST AND SOUVENIR MAPS 

Left: Pocket Contour Map of Bretton Woods. Circa 1902. Courtesy of David Govatski
Right: Weetamoo & Piper Trails Map. Not Dated. Courtesy of Adam Apt

These maps give a sense of character of a place and flag the features of greatest appeal to the tourist. Although aesthetics are a consideration in the design of every map, for these maps, it’s the primary consideration. These maps can be mementoes from an experience or inspirations for a future visit. Sometimes, as with a topographic map printed on an envelope or postcard, the map is aesthetic design element.

THREE DIMENSIONAL MAPS

Upper right corner: Schedler’s Relief Map. Courtesy of Adam Apt

Schedler’s relief map is one of two raised relief maps published in the 19^th century—the other is Snow’s, also on display in this exhibition—and is much the rarer of the two. It was published in 1879. It folds in half into its own box. It includes considerable detail. The cover notes that is was “compiled and prepared from the most recent information, surveys, and investigations, and embodying the latest corrections and revisions by members of The Appalachian Club.” This may be the only map of the White Mountains published in Jersey City. Schedler was well known as a publisher of globes; it was not known for its maps.