Mapmakers of the White Mountains
By the second half of the eighteenth century, the cartography of the White Mountains area was weak since “the region held little of commercial or political interest until the development of tourism, in the second quarter of the nineteenth century, and then of the logging industry, late in the century.” What maps there were of the region, were primarily the work of local surveyors and mapmakers.
Indeed, throughout the first three-quarters of the nineteenth century, maps of New Hampshire and especially of the White Mountains were largely the work of local cartographers….
It wasn’t until the end of the century, with the arrival of the U.S. Geological Survey, that the mapping of the White Mountains again became the province of professional cartographers with national and international experience. Even afterward, most maps of the region were produced by non-professionals, though some worked to very high standards indeed.
Adam Apt, “The Cartography of the White Mountains,” WhiteMountainHistory.org/White-Mountain-Maps
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Cutter’s first map published by the Appalachian Mountain Club appeared in 1898 as a blueprint, and was of the northern Presidentials. In 1916, this map was expanded south over the whole of the Presidential Range and adjusted to the scale of 1/62, 500, and it then continued in that same form, with Cutter’s name still on it, up to 1992, after which the AMC adopted GPS technology and produced wholly new maps. For generations of hikers, Cutter’s maps were pretty much the only maps of the White Mountains that they ever consulted.
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(Click to make larger)
Today’s Mapmakers
As a middle school science teacher and avid hiker, I enjoyed taking my students on a hiking field trip every year. To prepare for the trip we practiced map reading, learned about topographic maps, and did some orienteering. The culminating project was creating a 3-D topographic map. It was fun and creative.
I made a model of Mt. Washington with some of students. Most students knew Mt. Washington was the tallest but soon learned that some of their classmates had climbed it, taken the Cog Railway or traveled up the Mt. Washington Auto Road. The 3-D model was a great prop for students to visualize the mountain and share their enthusiasm and experiences. Students enjoyed tracing their routes with their finger as they told their stories.
I thought: what if I created models of all 48 of NH’s 4000 mountains? Hiking friends could compare routes and stories, could revisit memories of past hikes or plan their next hikes. Hikers love to share their 4000 foot experiences and their enthusiasm might entice others to get started on their own 4000 foot list.
Mark Thomas
