David Allen of West Chesterfield, New Hampshire, who owns a land surveying and mapping company in Greenfield, Massachusetts has compiled a book of old maps, Early Maps of Brattleboro, Vermont 1745–1912.
Allen will give a talk about the maps and his research for the book on Wednesday, January 14, at 7 p.m. in the Brooks Memorial Library Meeting Room.
Allen has also curated an exhibit of some of the maps in his book. An original hand-written copy of the 1753 charter for the Town of Brattleboro, with its accompanying map, will be on exhibit at Brooks Memorial Library from December 15 through January 14. The exhibit is timed to coincide with the anniversary of the town’s establishment 250 years ago, on December 26, 1753.
Detailed land ownership maps of the 1800s and several bird’s-eye views of the town will also be on display. Of special interest will be facsimiles of a 1749 map of Fort Dummer (pictured at right) and portions of a diary made by the surveyors who mapped the fort, documents which were only recently discovered.
The Fort Dummer map has probably never been seen in Brattleboro before this exhibit. Although the library owns a later rendition of the 1749 map, made by E. A. Jones of Marlow, New Hampshire, its proportions differ considerably from those of the original map.