1896 Calvert Map of Lake Winnipesaukee and the Lakes Region, New Hampshire

A fascinating 1896 map of the Lakes Region of New Hampshire, prepared by M. H. Calvert and printed by George H. Walker and Co. It is designed with tourists in mind, emphasizing hotels, attractions, and rail lines.

A Closer Look

Oriented towards the northeast, this map covers much of the Lakes Region of New Hampshire, including Lake Winnipesaukee and the 'Asquam Lakes' (also known as Squam Lake and Little Squam Lake) in their entirety. Portions of neighboring lakes, including Lake Winnisquam and Lake Wentworth, are also included, as is Lake Paugus, now considered a bay within Lake Winnipesaukee. The map adopts an unusual coloration, whereby land is shaded blue, and the lakes and other waterways are white. Towns are named, with their borders outlined, while stops along the rail lines are marked with circles.

Hotels, boats, wharves, rail lines, roads, steamboat lines, and other features, including the location of Calvert's Weirs Times, are illustrated throughout. A view along the top displays the peaks of the White Mountains to the north, while on the map, the elevations of smaller peaks near the lakes are noted. Statistical tables of Lake Winnipesaukee and Asquam Lakes at right and left, respectively, provide information on the lakes, tables of distances between major points, and indexes of island names corresponding to numbers on the map (larger islands and necks are named on the map itself). The Boston and Maine Railroad, which acquired earlier regional lines (namely the Boston and Lowell), and the Lake Shore Railroad, are traced in black. In the late 19th century, railroads and steamships worked in tandem to transport passengers from Boston and New York City, primarily, and shuttle them around Lake Winnipesaukee. The connection was so close that the Boston and Maine Railroad built a paddle-steamer, the Mount Washington, in 1872 to carry passengers, goods, and mail around Lake Winnipesaukee. (A passenger service still operates under this name, albeit using a more recent ship equipped with diesel engines.)

Boston and Maine Railroad

Commonly known as the 'B and M', the Boston and Maine Railroad was chartered in New Hampshire on June 27, 1835. The firm consolidated several smaller companies, including the Andover and Haverhill Railroad and later the Boston and Portland Railroad. It merged with the Maine, New Hampshire and Massachusetts Railroad in 1842, but retained the Boston and Maine operating name. In the subsequent decades, it acquired or leased several other railroads, including the Boston and Lowell (1887), Northern (1884), Connecticut River (1893), Concord and Montreal (1887), and Fitchburg (1900). In 1910, J. P. Morgan and his New York, New Haven and Hartford Railroad acquired the Boston and Maine Railroad. The firm initially prospered on the development of mill towns throughout New England and later capitalized on tourism from urban centers, such as Boston and New York. Nonetheless, the railroad declined during the Great Depression and when most of the old textile mills closed. Part of the Boston and Maine network remains in operation today under the Pan Am Railways (PAS) brand.

Publication History and Census

This map was prepared by Matthew H. Calvert, publisher of Calvert's Weirs Times and Tourists' Gazette, a seasonal publication produced during summer months. It is based on surveys undertaken by William P. Crocker (in the 1840s) and was printed by George H. Walker and Co. in Boston in 1896. This map was published in multiple editions, as indicated in the copyright information in the title box, though these appear to have varied considerably in size and style. The Boston Public Library holds an example identical to the present one except that it has a yellow coloration rather than blue, whereas Harvard University and the New Hampshire Historical Society hold smaller black-and-white examples where the Asquam Lakes table is replaced by advertising. We are only aware of these three examples in institutional collections or on the market.