DESCRIPTION: An original late 19th century survey map titled "Map of Mining Lands at Newbury, Near Newburyport, Essex County, Massachusetts", formally entered according to Act of Congress in 1875. Issued separately in a small covered booklet. Drawn by N. Little Jr., the sheet presents a large-scale depiction of the marshlands, waterways, and adjoining uplands of the lower Merrimack and Parker River region. Not much is known about Little but several parcels of land on the map are attributed to N. Little Jr. making the author a very interested stakeholder in the maps' creation and publication.
Executed at a scale of 125 rods to one inch, the map delivers a level of practical detail associated with cadastral and engineering surveys rather than general town mapping. A decorative compass rose anchors the composition at left, while clearly defined town boundaries identify West Newbury, Newbury, Rowley, and Georgetown, with Newburyport situated prominently along the Merrimack River corridor.
The map is especially informative in its integration of natural geography, transportation infrastructure, and parcel-level land division. The Merrimack River spans the upper portion of the sheet with the Newbury Flats labeled along the riverfront, while the eastern extent reaches to the Plum Island River, Plum Island, and the Atlantic Ocean, including Salisbury Beach. The Parker River winds through the lower right quadrant, fed by numerous named creeks and surrounded by finely stippled marshland drainage. Two railroad lines, the Eastern Railroad and the Boston and Maine Railroad, are clearly drawn and labeled, reinforcing the economic context of the survey. Throughout the central and southwestern areas, dense subdivision lines and owner-name annotations document individual parcels within the designated mining lands, confirming the map’s function as a legal and developmental instrument rather than a purely descriptive view of the region.
Silver was reportedly rediscovered in the Newbury and West Newbury area in the mid 1870s, when deposits of silver-bearing lead ore drew renewed attention to the area during a period of heightened national interest in precious metals. Contemporary newspaper accounts describe test pits, shafts, and assay results that briefly suggested the possibility of profitable extraction, generating local excitement and investment speculation. Although the deposits ultimately proved limited and uneconomic, the episode led to the formal surveying and designation of mining lands, leaving a lasting record in maps and land documents even after active mining efforts had faded.
The map also clearly shows the extent of the Newbury Turnpike. The Turnpike opened on February 11, 1805, as a privately financed toll road built by the Newburyport Turnpike Corporation to create a direct commercial route between Boston and Newburyport, intentionally bypassing Salem and the older Bay Road. Engineered to be as straight as possible, the roughly thirty-mile road required extensive earthworks, including filling swamps and cutting through or surmounting numerous steep hills, a design choice that earned it the lasting reputation of “going over every hill and missing every town.” Although promoted as a faster alternative for stagecoach travel and briefly supported by inns and toll houses along the route, the turnpike proved difficult, dangerous in winter, and largely unprofitable. By the mid 19th century it had fallen into neglect and was turned over to Essex County, later gaining renewed importance only in the automobile era, when it was incorporated into the Atlantic Highway in 1911, widened and paved in the early 1920s, and ultimately designated as Route 1 in 1925.
PUBLICATION DATE: 1875
GEOGRAPHIC AREA: United States
BODY OF WATER: Atlantic Ocean, Merrimack River, Little River
CONDITION: Good.
A few tiny fold separations (< .5 inch) repaired archivally from the verso. Clean. Attached to the booklet cover. Folds as issued.
COLORING: None
ENGRAVER:
SIZE: 22
" x
18 "
ITEM PHYSICAL LOCATION: 41
PRICE: $350
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