Maine: From District to Statehood
Cartography
Map-making was very important in the early days of statehood. When Maine separated from Massachusetts, it was not a clean break. Massachusetts still owned some parts of Maine for many years after statehood was granted, and maps were important to distinguish these parcels of land. Much of northern Maine was still forest land and had not been explored; Maine would establish a Land Agent who was responsible for exploring this land and he sent many surveyors to do this work. The maps on display here are from the collection of Land Office maps and were completed by both the Land Agent’s surveyors and surveyors from Massachusetts.