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Description

The first printed map of Worcester County, and possibly the earliest separate map of an American County published in America.

The map depicts the county oriented with north to the right and delineates town boundaries and waterways, though little else. The map seems to be an entirely original production, being more advanced than the depiction on the Mead-Jefferys " Map of the Most Inhabited Part of New England" (1774), while predating Osgood Carleton's " Accurate Map of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts" (ca. 1797).

The identity of Baker is not known, but John Peirce was a Worcester resident and "a surveyor by occupation... [and] captain of the local militia for a number of years. He was corporal in Col. Timothy Bigelow's company[,] which marched from Worcester to Cambridge on the alarm of April 19, 1775. He d[ied] March 2, 1803." (Frederick Clifton Pierce, "Peirce Genealogy") Whitney was for many years the minister in the Worcester County town of Northborough and a member of the American Academy of Arts
and Sciences.

Condition Description
Minor offsetting. One long repaired tear near compass rose.
Reference
Wheat and Brun, "Maps and Charts Published in America before 1800," #211.