« Memorial Day Offerings | Main | Blue Tarps 2 »
May 30, 2006
NOAA's Ark
The historical map & chart project on NOAA's website has some 21,000 maps, with a few very old gems in the mix. Most are decommissioned 20th century charts, which have some interesting data in and of themselves, but there are some fantastic golden oldies as well.
Here is a wonderful nautical chart of New York harbor from 1777. Note the town of Utrecht, in Brookland.
On the East River, Wallabout Bay, charted here in 1887 before the mud flats were dredged to make room for the 20th century Navy Yard. Much like how it appeared during the Revolutionary War when the British used the U-Shaped channel to anchor the prison ships.
A survey of the Mississippi basin from 1843, focusing on the Minneapolis/St Paul area, 15 years before Minnesota gained statehood. The St. Croix river sits vertically in the center.
Here is a contemporary map of the San Diego harbor which delineates the explosives dumping areas, as well as nuclear submarine routes; where one must navigate at ones own risk.
A contemporary map of the Isles of Shoals, off the coast of Maine & New Hampshire, a well traveled set of islands long before the settlement of mainland US. John Smith, the first to map the coasts of New England, made a mint fishing the deep Atlantic waters off the islands. More importantly, the Isle includes Smutty Nose Island, the namesake of one my favorite American beers, Shoals Pale Ale.
Posted by jmarston at May 30, 2006 11:29 AM
Comments
According to GNIS, there are three islands named Smutty Nose, all in Maine. Just FYI, because your Smuttynose is different from MY Smutty nose.
Posted by: fakeis at May 30, 2006 11:50 PM
Indeed, Smuttynose Island is in Maine, but the Isles of Shoals sit in both Manine and New Hampshire, I should have been clearer. You can see the dashed state line on the left hand side of the map capture.
Posted by: Dave at May 31, 2006 03:01 PM