1883 Scribner's Map of the United States Illustrating Wool Production

This is a Fletcher W. Hewes and Charles Scribner's Sons map of the United States illustrating the distribution of American wool production. Depicting the continental United States from the Pacific Ocean to the Atlantic Ocean and from the Canadian border to the border with Mexico, the map provides an incredible 'bird's eye view' of where American farmers and ranchers raised sheep per the census of 1880. The central map is divided into counties, and each county is shaded with a different pattern and shade of green. Each pattern and shade corresponds with the amount of wool reported in each county, from under 10 pounds to over 200 pounds. A key along the right border explains the breakdown of each color and pattern combination. Other notations are used to denote counties that reported that no products were manufactured there, Indian Reservations, and 'unsettled parts'.

Below the central map, a smaller inset map of the United States displays the overall amount of wool produced per state. Each state is shaded in the same way that the counties are shaded on the larger, central map. The states are also numbered, making it more apparent as to how each state compares with the others. A graph to the left of the inset map ranks the forty-six states of the United States and the District of Columbia in order of the number of pounds of wool produced per square mile. A graph along the left border compares state by the weight in pounds of wool produced per capita, while the graph along the bottom border compares the total weight in pounds of wool produced in each state.

This map was produced by Fletcher W. Hewes and included in the Citizen's Atlas of American Politics 1789-1892. It was copyrighted by Charles Scribner's Sons in 1883.