1881 Shawano Barron (Menominee) County Wisconsin Handcolored Maps Indian Res

Description

Map of Barron County (with) Map of Shawano County, Wisconsin
Published by H. R. Page & Co., Chicago, 1881
Original, double-sided hand colored lithographic map sheet consisting of a county printed on each side extracted from H. R. Page’s “Illustrated Historical Atlas of Wisconsin”, the last of the 3 great Wisconsin State atlases published during the latter half of the nineteenth century and arguably the finest and most complete. Map size: Barron - 15 ¾ x 12 ¾ inches (borders); Shawano – 12 ¾ x 16 ½ inches (map extends beyond the west border) on sheet with broad margins.
These simple yet attractive and long-obsolete maps focus on political and cultural aspects of the covered areas plus additional features, many of which are listed below, and would tastefully adorn any home, cabin or vacation rental. If you have an interest in any of these Wisconsin places, old maps offer a unique window into the past that can inspire conversation, reflection, and appreciation.
What could possibly have changed over the past 140 years?
Condition: Generally very good and clean with light age toning, a few light toning spots and faint smudges limited mainly to the margins, a couple of small dark spots at the bottom of the Shawano map, and a single edge tear repaired with archival tissue tape on the Barron side at the bottom of the Barron map (west side of Shawano).
The bound edge has been slightly trimmed to remove binding remnants but there is still ample margin left for framing.
Please view the photographs for more detail about condition and content and, of course, feel free to ask questions.
Content: Each county map is colored by civil townships and show
survey township, range and sections; cities and towns; wagon roads; railroads; post offices; churches and schools; rivers and lakes; and, depending on the map, Indian and lumber trails;
mills; camps (lumber?); dams; and more. Also shown on the Shawano map are the Menominee and Stockbridge Indian Reservations including a number of Indian settlements and a small area of Oconto County. On the Barron map, the remains of a French Trading Post and “Artificial Dome 100 years old” are located near the town of Rice Lake and even a number of private residences are named (presumably prominent citizens or subscribers to the atlas).
The county boundary configuration shown matches that of present-day Barron County; however, the boundaries of Shawano County changed with the formation of Menominee County in 1959.
A scarce pair of maps each containing historical information of a bygone age when the pace of life was regulated by the speed of a horse, steam locomotive or steamboat (and paper map!) for these then relatively young Wisconsin counties and towns. By 1881, Wisconsin had begun to recover from the crippling economic Panic of 1873 – the worst US depression until 1929 – making the publication of a third state atlas economically viable even following tepid public reception to the previous Walling/Tackabury and Snyder/Van Vechten Wisconsin atlases. Each atlas was an improvement over its predecessor with changes made to formatting and content, although many of the Page and Snyder/Van Vechten maps share a very similar appearance and are cartographically almost identical, having been produced from the same plates. Close examination of Page and Snyder/Van Vechten map pairings sometimes reveal minor additions and removals by Page; however, major changes occurring within the few year span between these publications, such as county boundary redefinition due to new county formation, city/town map additions or removals, and new illustrations, were also made.
H. R. Page & Co. also published atlases of a small number of north mid-western US and southern Canadian counties, maps of selected US states, and other subjects up until the late 1880’s. Their Wisconsin State atlas endures as their most ambitious, comprehensive and best-known work. Wisconsinites are fortunate to have such a rich resource of affordable and display worthy cartographic material at their disposal.