Map of Provincetown Massachusetts 1858

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1836 Map of Provincetown MA An excerpt from the detailed Cape Cod Harbor map Provincetown Maps Cape Cod Maps
Click here to purchase either the Provincetown Map or the Provincetown & Truro Map!

1836 Map of Provincetown	1836 Map of Provincetown & Truro
1836 Maps of the Provincetown area, Massachusetts Two excerpts from "A Map of the Extremity of Cape Cod" by the US Bureau of Topographical Engineers Rumsey Collection Click the map to see a more detailed copy. (The image is degraded for the web, but it shows the areas covered by the map.)

A Map of the Extremity of Cape Cod.... This is the original map from which our "Provincetown 1836 " map was made.	This remarkably detailed map was made over three years by the US Bureau of Topographic Engineers, predecessor to today's Army Corp of Engineers. It is a very accurate map showing buildings, the shoreline and water depths for Provincetown and surroundings. Our print is excerpted from the much larger original map (image to the left). Below we show sections of the map, including the Legend (which is not included on our 1836 Provincetown edition). Purchasing information is available at shop.old-maps.com.

Above, "downtown" Provincetown in 1836. Each wharf is named , as are principal buildings. The names "Parker" and Lothrop" may denote prominent citizens, as most of the private buildings are not identified. The long rectangles are salt-drying facilities. The numbered circles on the hillside are surveying control points. Accurate mapping at the time was based on triangulation points, physical monuments on high, open locations, whose position could be determined by measuring intersecting angles from other known points.

The area around the Race Point Light House was very active, with a cluster of Fisherman's and Pilots's Huts. The "Tide Staff" was probably a wooden stake with elevation markings so a sailor could see at a glance how shallow the water was.