Map Collection Overview

The Stewart-Swift Research Center’s Map Collection offers exceptional insight into the exploration of historical developments in Addison County, broader Vermont, and into the study of the formation and expansion of the United States and the World. The collection is rich in local and non-local maps covering far-reaching geo-historical areas and themes and includes some exceptionally rare and valuable items.

The Center’s historical map collection originated with the Museum’s founder, Henry L. Sheldon. He amassed a variety of traditional wall and paper maps, ornamental maps and broadsides, charts, manuscript maps, atlases and geographical books. The majority of the maps date from the late 18th century through the Civil War. Some came from the estates of Middlebury’s founders and its prominent citizens, including Eben W. Judd, Daniel Chipman, William Slade, and others. These maps reflect these individual’s collecting passions and their curiosity about the larger world.

During the following hundred-plus years after Henry L. Sheldon’s death in 1906, the Center’s map collection was steadily expanded. Today it consists of around 500 items enriched with more recent geological and topographical maps; environmental and transportation maps; and local insurance, cemetery, sewer and water systems maps that provide insights into road development, soil and land conservation, population growth, building codes and materials, and much more.

Highlights of the Collection

Local Middlebury and Addison County maps include early surveys and published maps that show property boundaries, names of their owners, waterways, burial grounds and other features.  Among the earliest are the survey map of Daniel Foot’s farm in 1791 and other lot surveys from the early 1800s of multiple locations around Addison County.  Other maps created by Ezra Brainerd of Middlebury show original settlements and land ownership around 1814. The Preside & Edwards 1853 Map of the Village of Middlebury shows ownership of properties throughout the village, and the H. F. Walling Map of Addison County displays names and locations of houses, businesses, and other structures in the mid-19th century. The Center also houses several sets of Sanborn fire insurance maps from 1885 to 1927.

The Center’s collection also includes maps produced by the earliest Vermont surveyors, cartographers, engravers, and publishers. Included are surveys by Eben W. Judd of Guildhall, Lemington, and Windsor. Among other map makers represented are Ebenezer Hutchinson, Lewis Robinson, George White, James Whitelaw, E. Ruggles, and M. M. Peabody. Some of them operated their businesses in small localities in Southern Vermont, including Greenbush, Quechee, South Reading and Woodstock.  

The collection also holds unique and unusual manuscript maps drawn by students in local schools, mostly by girls. One of them is a bound volume of maps, “A Book of Penmanship,” by Susan H. Chipman dating from 1823. There are also loose maps executed by other students depicting Vermont, North America, and other continents. These colorful and rare pieces attest to the influence of the educational reformer Emma Willard, who introduced instruction of geography and astronomy to girls’ education at her Female Academy in Middlebury, which she operated until 1819.

Beyond the local Vermont area, the Center’s collection includes atlases and regional, territorial, and state maps of North America and other countries and continents. Among them are:, Carey’s American Atlas (1795), the first atlas published in America; the Map of America by Arrowsmith and Kimber (1812); Map of the Western Reserve Including the Fire Lands in Ohio by W. Sumner (1826); Map of the United States and the Southern Part of the Canadas by J. Whitelaw and E. Hutchinson (1829); John Freemont’s Map of an Exploring Expedition to the Rocky Mountains in the Year 1842, Oregon and California in the Years 1843-1844 (1845); map of Asia by Kimber & Conrad (1820), and many others. The collection also includes ornamental maps and charts, Celestial and Stream of Time maps, and other educational charts that provide an insight into 19th century interpretations of the historical past, and other unusual items.

The Cricket Foundation Grant

In 2014 the Center received a grant from the Cricket Foundation that enabled the survey and evaluation of its map collection. The grant also funded conservation work of several maps including: the Map of the Village of Middlebury (1853); Map of Vermont by J. Whitelaw (1821); manuscript Map of Vermont by S. Miller (c. 1825); Map of Massachusetts, Rhode Island and Connecticut by E. Hutchinson (1819); Map of Vermont by L. Robinson (1848); two small maps of Vermont and New Hampshire by G. White (1850-51); and a bound volume of manuscript maps by Susan H. Chipman (1823).Caring for the Center’s map collection is challenging and requires the continuous conservation of fragile and diverse items. The Center strives to continue this urgent work in order to preserve this unique collection for future generations.

How to Find

Only some maps and atlases are cataloged and can be searched through the Center’s online catalog. A more comprehensive compilation of maps can be found in the Map Index (this resource will be coming soon) that is periodically updated. The Map Index is organized by geographic location and further, by date. The Index begins with Addison County maps; followed by Vermont locations; US regions, non-Vermont states, and territories. The last section is organized according to continents other than North America.