1895 Stoddard Tourist Map of Lake Champlain

One of the Earliest Tourist Maps of Lake Champlain.

A scarce 1895 Seneca Ray Stoddard map of Lake Champlain issued for the Central Vermont Railroad. It was published at the height of the lake's late 19th-century popularity as a tourist destination.

A Closer Look

Presented in an unusual, elongated format, this map covers the entirety of Lake Champlain and the adjacent parts of Vermont, New York, and Quebec, from Missisquoi Bay and Rouses Point to Fort Ticonderoga. Stoddard details rail lines (various other lines in addition to the Central Vermont), basic topography, and roadways. On the lake, islands, reefs, points, bays, and other features are labeled, including historical notes such as the site of the 1814 Battle of Plattsburgh. There are insets detailing the lower portions of the lake from Whitehall to Fort Ticonderoga, the Richelieu River, steamboat routes on the lake, distances from Burlington (by rail) to Portland, Boston, Montreal, and other cities, and smaller circular insets at left demonstrating distances from Westport and Crown Point, New York.

The Central Vermont Railroad

The Vermont Central Railroad was the state's first railroad, chartered in 1843 to connect Burlington with Montpelier, the Connecticut River, and the New Hampshire border at White River Junction. Work began in 1846, with the line opening in stages and becoming fully operational in 1849. The company expanded in the following years, acquiring other lines, eventually reaching into Canada, connecting Montreal and Ottawa with New London, Connecticut. In 1872, the name changed to Central Vermont Railroad, flipping the first two words of the company's original name. It was the primary means for travelers from Boston and other East Coast cities to access Lake Champlain, which saw a resulting boost in tourism.

In the years following this map's publication, the company ran into financial difficulties and was reorganized several times, with portions coming under the control of the Grand Trunk Railway and Canadian National Railway. The Central Vermont continued to operate somewhat independently under the Canadian National until 1995 when the former was privatized. Still, portions of it continue to operate, especially the New England Central Railroad, a freight line maintaining the connection between New London and Lake Champlain.

Publication History and Census

Stoddard first issued this map in 1892, and as such, it was one of the earliest tourist maps to focus exclusively on Lake Champlain. He sold it independently by mail order, and it was also included in several publications of the Central Vermont Railroad, as seen here. Stoddard issued numerous revised editions to at least 1911. The present example appeared in the 1895 book Summer Homes among the Green Hills of Vermont, and along the Shores of Lake Champlain, issued by the railroad. Despite many editions, this map is quite rare, with very few examples identified in institutional collections. Earlier and later editions of the map are independently cataloged in the OCLC (61296932) at eight institutions, but not this edition. The 1895 edition of the entire Summer Homes book is held by the University of Rochester and Cornell University.

Cartographer

Seneca Ray Stoddard (May 13, 1844 – April 26, 1917) was an American landscape photographer known for his images of New York's Adirondack Mountains. He was also a naturalist, writer, poet, artist, and cartographer. His writings and photographs helped to popularize the Adirondacks as a vacation destination in the late 19th century. Stoddard was born at Wilton, in Saratoga County, New York, May 13, 1844. Largely self-taught, he left home at 16 to paint advertising and decorative scenes on railroad cars. Around 20, Stoddard discovered a passion for photography. His work initially focused on his hometown of Glens Falls, but quickly expanded to cover much of the Adirondack region. In 1873, he published guides to Saratoga Springs and Lake George, which he updated and revised each of the subsequent five years. In 1878, the guide was expanded to Lake George and Lake Champlain. His best-known work is the 1873 guidebook, The Adirondacks: Illustrated, revised and reprinted through 1914. In 1874, he issued the first tourist map of the Adirondacks. This was followed by a 1878 topographical survey of the Adirondacks. In 1882, Stoddard invented 'a camera attachment for use in dry-plate photography and to perfect the magnesium flash for taking night photographs.' In early 1892, he was invited to give an illustrated lecture to the New York State Legislature that was influential in the creation of the Adirondack Park. In addition to his work in New York, Stoddard traveled extensively. His travels took him to Alaska in 1892, Florida and Cuba in 1894, and later he toured the American West and Southwest. In 1895, he traveled to Bermuda, the Holy Land, Italy, Switzerland, and France. In 1897, he went to England, the Orkney, Shetland, and Faroe Islands, Iceland, Norway, Denmark, Germany, and Russia. His trips became the basis for illustrated lecture tours, and two photographic travel books: The Cruise of the Friesland and The Midnight Sun. In 1906, he started Stoddard's Northern Monthly, a short-lived magazine that featured articles on the Adirondacks, fiction, and foreign travel. Stoddard died at his home in Glens Falls, New York, on April 26, 1917, and is interred in Pineview Cemetery. Today, his photography is housed at the Chapman Historical Museum in Glens Falls, and the Adirondack Museum in Blue Mountain Lake, New York.   Further Details...

Source

Central Vermont Railroad, Summer homes among the Green Hills of Vermont, and along the shores of Lake Champlain. (St. Albans, Vermont: Central Vermont Railroad) 1895.    

Condition

Very good. Light wear along original folds. Trimmed unevenly at top from binding into book.

References

OCLC 61296932 (different editions). OCLC 51774269 (entire book, listing co-mingles multiple editions and formats).