1963 Phillips Pictorial Map of Northern Maine, Lakes Region

The Birth of Maine's Modern Conservation Movement.

This is a scarce 1963 pictorial map of the Moosehead - Allagash region of northern Maine prepared by Augustus Phillips and Sons. It portrays the region in a period when it was in danger of being substantially altered by proposed hydroelectric dams, and a nascent conservation movement was emerging.

A Closer Look

The map covers large portions of Piscataquis and Somerset Counties in northern Maine, with county and survey lines, towns, land grants (including those belonging to Bowdoin College), roads, mountains (with elevation), lakes, rivers, ponds, highways, roads, trails, fire towers, campsites, launching sites on lakes, airports, and other features noted throughout. The Appalachian Trail appears at bottom-right, heading towards the trail's terminus at Mt. Katahdin.

The Proposed Rankin Rapids Dam

The proposed dam at Rankin Rapids was one of the most contentious environmental battles in Maine's history, representing a clash between the mid-20th century push for industrial progress via hydroelectric power and the emerging American conservation movement. The proposal for a dam at Rankin Rapids on the Saint John River emerged in the late 1950s and early 1960s. It was conceived as a critical component of the Passamaquoddy Tidal Power Project, a massive federal plan to harness the tides of the Bay of Fundy. Because tidal power is intermittent, engineers needed a power source to provide steady electricity when the tides were low.

The Rankin Rapids dam, located just downstream from the confluence of the Saint John and Allagash Rivers, was intended to create a massive reservoir that could store water and release it through turbines as needed. The impact of the Rankin Rapids proposal would have been transformative and, from a conservationist perspective, catastrophic, including the flooding of 97% to 98% of the Allagash River, one of the last truly 'wild' rivers in the Eastern United States. The Upper Saint John River would have also been inundated, destroying vast tracts of timberland and the unique ecosystem of the 'North Woods.'

The proposal was ultimately defeated by a combination of high-profile advocacy, political maneuvering, and the offer of an 'alternative' project. In 1960, Supreme Court Justice William O. Douglas famously paddled the Allagash with Maine guide Willard Jalbert. Douglas's subsequent writings and lobbying brought national attention to the river, framing it as a 'last chance' for wilderness in New England. To stave off federal control and damming, the State of Maine took the unprecedented step of creating the Allagash Wilderness Waterway in 1966. This state-protected corridor was the first of its kind and effectively 'locked' the river away from development. In an attempt to save the Allagash while still gaining hydroelectric power, proponents shifted their focus to the Dickey-Lincoln School Dam project, which spared the Allagash but still flooded the Saint John. However, the proposed Dickey-Lincoln Dam was itself abandoned due to soaring costs, declining power demand, and environmental concerns.

Publication History and Census

This map was prepared by Augustus 'Gus' Phillips in 1963, among the first he prepared in his distinctive style after inheriting the map publishing business operated by his brother Luther (the present map is particularly interesting to compare with Luther Phillips earlier map of Moosehead Lake, previously sold by us, MooseheadLake-phillips-1953). Ten years after this map, Augustus Phillips prepared a similar map of an area slightly to the north (Geographiucs: StJohnAllagashWilderness-phillips-1973) to depict the changes that the Dickey-Lincoln Dam would have brought about, an important graphic aid to opponents of the dam in the conservationist movement. The OCLC appears to catalog the similar but actually distinct 1963 and 1973 maps together, with the present map being noted among the holdings of Ball State University and the University of Maine at Orono. An example of the present map is also held by the University of Southern Maine's Osher Map Library.

Cartographer

Augustus Dewey Phillips (May 6, 1898 - December 14, 1975), a.k.a. 'Gus', was an American artist, cartographer, and publisher. Born on Mount Desert Island, Maine, as a boy Augustus and his brother Luther Savage Phillips (1891 - 1960) helped their dad in a variety of odd jobs, including maintaining a boat rental business and harvesting and selling ice. Augustus graduated from Hebron Academy and then attended the University of Maine for a short time. After leaving university, Phillips became a Maine Guide and worked as a carpenter and draftsman in the South Portland and Boothbay Harbor ship and boat yards. The brothers traveled together widely throughout Maine. Luther went on to start a popular map and postcard business out of Northeast Harbor, Maine. After Luther died in 1960, Augustus took over the map businesses. In a tragic turn of events, in 1973 an out of control bush fire destroyed the Phillips studio and much of the surviving stock, making all Phillips' maps issued prior to that date rare. His passion for landscapes helped Augustus create his own map style. Augustus expanded the business and continued making new maps until he died in 1975. Augustus' son, Donald Beekman Phillips (1935 - 2009) continued the business after his father's death. Augustus married Mary Fletcher on April 26, 1922, with whom he had four children.   Further Details...

Condition

Average. Closed and repaired tear from upper margin, center, extending roughly 1/3 through the map. Some creasing to paper.

References

OCLC 51449860. Meader, B., 'Drawing Maine: The Pictorial Maps of the Phillips Brothers' Cartographic Perspectives No. 102 (2023), pp. 63-71.