1879 Colvin Map Upper Ausable (1 results)

Very good. Light wear along original folds. Size 15.5 x 20 Inches. A handsome 1879 map of Upper Ausable Lake and environs in the Adirondack region of New York, produced by Verplank Colvin. A Closer Look Focusing on Upper Ausable Lake (formerly spelled Au Sable), some 15 miles southeast of Lake Placid, this map displays geographic features in and around the lake, including surrounding hills and mountains. Human-made structures and impacts, sparse as they are, are also labeled, including trails, landings, and camps. In large part due to the work of Colvin, forest conservation efforts in the Adirondacks increased in the late 19th century, including the creation of the Ausable Club, located further up the Ausable River (East Fork) in St. Huberts on land belonging to the Beede family, the namesake for 'Beede Landing' here. Colvin's Survey of the Adirondacks Verplanck Colvin became the first person to summit Seward Mountain in 1870, and in doing so, was confronted by rampant deforestation in the Adirondacks. Personally shaken by this revelation and concerned about the viability of New York's water supply and the Erie Canal if the deforestation continued, Colvin lobbied the state government for funds to undertake a survey of the Adirondacks. This effort resulted in a detailed report that called for the protection of the Adirondack watershed to preserve the state's water supply. Subsequent reports, such as the Seventh Annual Report in which the present map appeared, provided the first accurate surveys of the vast region. These, in turn, led to the creation of the Forest Preserve and Adirondack Park, a 6.1-million-acre park in upstate New York that encompasses more than 10,000 lakes, 30,000 miles of streams and rivers, and an estimated 200,000 acres of old-growth forests. The Forest refers to all lands owned by the state of New York within the Adirondack, and later Catskill, parks. Publication History and Census This map was drawn by Verplank Colvin and lithographed by Weed Parsons and Co. It appeared as Map No. 2 in the Seventh Annual Report on the Progress of the Topographical Survey of the Adirondack Region of New York, to the Year 1879 . The map is independently cataloged only by the State University of New York Binghamton and the New York State Library. References: OCLC 25137968.