Map of the County of Franklin

Map. Copper plate engraving with original hand-colored outline. Image measures 24 1/2" x 16 3/8" This map depicts Franklin County in New York State, hand-colored by town. The map denotes major routes, rivers and creeks, and other topographical details. Franklin County sits entirely within Macomb's Purchase, a massive 1791 land transaction where the state sold millions of acres to speculator Alexander Macomb. This purchase was carved into giant sections called Great Tracts. Franklin County encompasses Great Tract No. One, which was then was systematically surveyed and subdivided into 27 survey townships containing roughly 32,000 acres each. These townships are numbered and outlined. Some of these townships are further subdivided into a grid of smaller, numbered parcels, meant for sale to individual pioneer farmers. Several of these tracts show their proprietor's names. Most of the townships have yet to be divided at the time of this map's publication. Established villages created prior to the land surveys are labeled, and an Indian reservation is depicted in the upper left corner of the county. Flouring mills, saw mills, manufactories, forges, and churches are indicated. This first edition of Burr's county map appeared in his "Atlas of the State of New York" of the same year, which was the second atlas of an individual state ever published. The map is in very good condition. Some foxing. Full original margins. David H. Burr (1803-1875) served as Topographer to the United States Post Office and Geographer to the House of Representatives and was widely known for his accuracy and attention to detail. His "Universal Atlas" was the first to map each of the United States individually. This map is a lovely rendering of a hard-to-find county in New York State.…