Historic USFS WMNF Maps

[Salty]

I had commented here about some old WMNF maps, providing a link to some of them, and that I had thought some were missing.

Still not sure where I got all of them from (only found some in piecemeal places), so I've thrown a zip of all the ones I have at this location.

Includes 1914-1918, 1920, 1924, 1929, 1931, 1937, 1939-1942, 1963, 1967, 1973, 1982 and 1984.

Enjoy (especially to you fellow map nerds).

 

[HH1]

Bad link above. Please fix.

 

[peakbagger]

Thanks, the link worked for me.

 

[Tom_Murphy]

Thank you.

 

[BISCUT]

This is very cool. Thanks for sharing.

 

[AlpineBee]

Salty - thank you! Lots of old trails on these topos. Awesome! It supports my mapping-data hoarding habit

 

[Lost Dad]

there are other people like me out there? Thank you

 

[peakbagger]

Some drift

Year ago in the precommercial pre WWW era of the internet my brother read on rec.backcountry that if a private individual ordered $500 worth of USGS maps they were considered a dealer and got them for 50% off. I was early in my hiking career so he and I made up wish list and bought over $500 of maps. This was in the late eighties when many of the rural USGS (like the 4 pack area up along the border in Maine) maps were still 1921 15 minute quads. The USGS was all on paper so in order to order maps you had to get two directories. One was an index to published maps and the other was the names of all the 7.5 minute quads even if they didnt exist yet. So the method was look up the quads you wanted then check to see if they were published then entered the numerical order code on the order form. After the first go around I decided I wanted more and my brother also did so we decided to see if we had enough for another order. We did and since this was the most likely the last time, I went through the naming directory and looked up maps that didnt technically exist in 7.5 format. The actual order codes not listed in the other directory were just a standard format so I decided which ones I wanted of maps that were not listed as published, filled in the codes and ordered then. About a month later I got my maps and every one of the maps that were officially not published were in the mailing tube. I ended up with 7.5 minute provisional quads for a lot of the 100 highest. It took several years before the map dealer got them. I got a lot of use out of them them and built a 4 drawer map case sized to the maps with ball bearing drawer slides to hold them. Yes I bought one of the earliest Map CDs of USGS maps but unlike the paper version they did not fit in my pocket. It turned out that the James River papermill in Gorham was a big supplier of the acid free paper used to print the maps so in theory some of the maps were made on paper made locally where I worked. Gorham also was a supplier of the paper for White Mountain Guides.

Another story for maps folks is that a congressmen could request USGS maps for free to fulfill constituent requests. I have run into a couple of folks who had extensive USGS maps collections for a particular state because some relative knew a congressman. My former scout leader had most of Maine obtained that way that he inherited by some relative. I always wonder if the set of USGS maps of NH that Gene Daniell brought with him for his 2 years in federal prison had been obtained that way.

 

[maineguy]

Thanks for the link Peakbagger. Very cool stuff!

 

[bikehikeskifish]

I always wonder if the set of USGS maps of NH that Gene Daniell brought with him for his 2 years in federal prison had been obtained that way.

This is a new piece of information to me. Is there an explanation of this 2 year stint? Google doesn't seem to know. Maybe details about Jr (his father) and not being able to pay a fine, but behind a pay wall so I can't read it.

Tim

 

[skiguy]

Very interesting. Thanks for posting.

 

[Mohamed Ellozy]

Gene was a draft resister, and was proud of the time he served in jail. He would often refer to himself as a "convicted felon".

 

[peakbagger]

Gene mentioned it in the WMG 100th anniversary volume in his perspective piece. He was the son of a papermill manager and was allegedly offered Conscientious Objector status (a stint in a non combat role) versus prison but elected prison for the approximate duration of his required service. In that era, there usually was an out for those with adequate financial resources so it most likely a deliberate decision on Gene's part.

I heard a prominent AMC NH trip leader now deceased that referred to Gene as a "draft dodger" and not jokingly early in my hiking career. The perspective of draft dodgers and the entire Vietnam war has changed over the years.

 

[ChrisB]

This is a new piece of information to me. Is there an explanation of this 2 year stint? Google doesn't seem to know. Maybe details about Jr (his father) and not being able to pay a fine, but behind a pay wall so I can't read it.

Tim

There is a story/obit about Gene is the latest Appalachia by Steve Smith. It mentions the CO jail time and also the fact the he was the first 770 finisher.

He researched all those peaks while in the can for 17 months. He remained proud of his decision to go to jail throughout his life.

 

[Salty]

Bad link above. Please fix.

Give this a whirl - less shorthand.

https://www.saltyhikes.com/xfer/Maps.zip

 

[Salty]

there are other people like me out there? Thank you

If you stare at a map for an hour looking at all the intricacies, then yes.

Salty - thank you! Lots of old trails on these topos. Awesome! It supports my mapping-data hoarding habit

I hear ya, man! Good to see you're still poking in here once in a while!

 

[HH1]

Give this a whirl - less shorthand.

https://www.saltyhikes.com/xfer/Maps.zip

Have never seen this before - just clicking on the link does nothing. But if I right click on it and open a separate tab, a pop-up shows offering to download the zip file, which was successful. Thanks a ton for maps - really useful!

 

[JoshandBaron]

Thank you! Was out fishing the West Branch Peabody and came across suspension bridge remains yesterday a good distance from any current trail. This answers my questions.