County Atlas of Hampshire Massachusetts

Detailed atlas of Hampshire County, Massachusetts from 1873.

This informative atlas of Hampshire County, Massachusetts was published in New York by F.W. Beers & Co. in 1873. Engraving was performed by E. Neuman, while printing was done by Charles Hart.

The complex (and expensive) production methods often led publishers of 19th-century county atlases to sell them on a pre-order subscription basis. Residents and companies could pay an extra fee to include advertisements, portraits, or engraved scenes of homes and businesses. Several such examples can be seen in the ‘Business Notices’ listed for various towns on the maps.

The atlas begins with a table of air-line distances for locations across the county, as well as statistics and demographics for each state and territory. These are followed by a state map and outline map of the county identifying settlements, transportation routes, geographic features, and other locations of interest like industries, post offices, and churches.

Plat maps of each village, city, and township provide information on landowners, street names, businesses, infrastructure, and local landmarks. For example, the campus of Amherst College is prominently featured on the plan of its eponymous city. The aforementioned business notices list community firms by type, including attorneys, druggists, jewelers, manufacturers, and physicians. A fascinating window into the geographic, economic, and social composition of the county in the mid-1870s.