Some Maps in the Wild: Nova Scotia Edition

There is an entire web site dedicated to #MapsintheWild - also a social media hashtag. On a recent trip to Nova Scotia, I found some very nice examples, including last week's post. Here are a few more. 

There are many memorials throughout the province to the Acadians who were expelled from Canada (also from Maine) by the British starting in 1755. Here is a map found along the Halifax waterfront showing migration and expulsion routes.

Also on the waterfront is Cable Wharf, the endpoint of a 3,200 kilometer long cable under the Atlantic Ocean that connected Europe to North America. This large cylindrical monument (like a spool of cable) includes a map of the transatlantic cables that wraps around the entire cylinder.

Though almost impossible to adequately photograph here is my attempt at a close up of part of the map. The cables are dashed lines that are very hard to see.

Finally, in Wolfville, near the Bay of Fundy, there is a large piece called Work at the Trestle. This bronze sculpture by Ruth Abernethy features T. T. Vernon Smith, civil engineer and builder of the Windsor and Annapolis Railway looking over a map showing damage to the railway after a huge storm in 1869. More on this monument can be seen here.

Here I am looking over his shoulder.

Again a work this large is tough to photograph in a meaningful way. Here is a little bit of the map detail. 

Here is the work shown in context at the waterfront park. The gazebo shown on the sculpture is just to the right of the photo.

Halifax Explosion

100 years ago Halifax, Nova Scotia suffered a horrific explosion that killed about 2,000 people, injured many more and destroyed much of the city. Windows 50 miles away were shattered.

Two ships collided, one carrying explosives that were meant to go to France during World War I. The ship with the explosives caught fire and drifted towards the city. As people watched the burning ship it exploded, instantly killing almost 2,000 people. The explosion resulted in a Tsumani that killed even more people and wiped out a Mi'qmak First Nation community in Dartmouth.

The Halifax Herald put together this remarkable graphic showing the destroyed buildings in great detail, UPDATE: No it didn't - see below

as well as a timeline of events.

Pretty amazing to have produced this map on such notice and under such trying conditions - that was my original text. It turns out this was a recreation by Snodgrass Design. Fooled again!

More on the explosion can be found on Wikipedia.

Vintage Gas Station Maps

Among my bountiful harvest of birthday gifts in May was a collection of old gas station maps of northeastern states and Canadian provinces from the 1960s-70s. As a collector/hoarder of these things, some were duplicates but others were "new."

These maps remind me of the unsung heroes of that cartographic era. Companies like H. M. Gousha, General Drafting, and The National Survey labored in obscurity while Esso, Shell or the state highway departments put their names on the cover. I was once offered a job at General Drafting at $7.88/hour. This was not nearly enough money even in the 1980s to justify relocating to Convent Station, New Jersey so I declined.  Speaking of New Jersey...


This map doubled as a help beacon. If you fold it the right way and place it on your dashboard it says "SEND HELP" in black against a bright yellow background.



When I tell people I was born in New Jersey and they ask "which exit" the answer is 109.

 

This map also does the vintage upside down gimmick for southbounders. Stop! Don't look at this if you're heading north!

Welcome to Maine! Sure we have nice forests, lakes and oceanside vistas but none of that compares to our beautiful new Archives building.

New York is too big to fit clearly on one side of a map. The lucky folks in Elmira are in the Great Overlap so they don't have to guess which side of the map to open.

New York also appeared to annex three of Canada's largest cities here.  
UPDATE: I forgot about Hamilton so actually four.

For a Canadian perspective here are two views of Nova Scotia, the first one is from the tourist bureau and has a cute scenic tours guide on the back page. The 1970s fonts are nice too.

I also think the scenery on the cover is nicer than the Maine map but that's just my strange opinion.

The Esso (General Drafting) take on the same geography. North is up on this one, not slanted to follow the peninsula's orientation like the map above.

Happy motoring!