1859 Map of Maine, by J.H. Colton

This is a map published in 1859 by J.H. Colton of New York, and shows the entire state of Maine. It is interesting because it is one of the earliest maps that shows Maine, and thus Aroostook County, in its post-1842 borders with all townships laid out and numbered or named. We can see labeled "Van Buren Plantation" and "Hancock Plantation" as well as the towns of Van Buren and Fort Kent.  What is now Frenchville (and in the 1850 census part of "Madawaska Plantation") is labeled "Cleveland." The "Madawaska Settlements" are still labeled as being a cross-border community. In addition there is a fair amount of detail provided on the New Brunswick and Québec sides of the border.

This map is also of interest because it clearly shows the lettering scheme of the townships in the first two ranges of Aroostook County (a scheme inherited from Washington County, that part of which joined Aroostook in 1839).

Another point of interest is that the Upper St.John is labeled as the "Woolastook, or St.Johns River". Wolastoq is Maliseet for "beautiful river," and also the Maliseet name for the St.John River. The Maliseet people called themselves the Wolastoqiyik, or people of the beautiful river, that is, people of the St.John River.

The original map is in color. In order to provide as much detail as possible without having too large of a file, the image below is in black and white.  For a lower-resolution image of the original color, click here

B&W 1859 Colton map


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Last revised 12 Sep 2003