Atlas of Wicomico, Somerset, and Worcester Cos., Md.

A detailed overview of Maryland’s three lower counties during the mid-1870s.

This fascinating Gilded Age atlas is a cartographic snapshot of three counties on Maryland’s Eastern Shore – Wicomico, Somerset, and Worcester. The arrival of the railroad and post-Civil War prosperity brought a tide of agricultural and industrial change to the coastal region, which was dotted with oyster houses, sawmills, farms, river landings, and depots.

A double-page outline plan of all three counties highlights the regional transportation network, political organization, and basic geography. Large-scale maps of each election district provide an incredible amount of information – names of local landowners, lists of businesses, and the locations of specific buildings. Insets often capture important crossroads, small towns, or unincorporated communities.

Full or double-page plans are given for Salisbury, Newton, Snow City, Princess Anne, and Crisfield. A list of patrons for each county is also provided, noting the name, occupation, place of birth, and date of settlement – invaluable genealogical data. The volume concludes with double-page maps of the state of Maryland, the city of Baltimore, the United States, and the Eastern/Western Hemisphere.

Compiled, drawn, and published from actual surveys by Lake, Griffing, and Stevenson in Philadelphia in 1877. The firm was part of a large commercial industry that often sold the works on a subscription basis, allowing potential buyers to include self-portraits, views of their homes, and even prized animals (for an extra fee). These atlases are frequently the only surviving record of contemporary land use outside of courthouse deeds.