O Shenandoah

The Library of Congress has an online exhibit of a very important map from the American Civil War. In O Shenandoah, I Long to Map You, Jennifer Gavin describes the cartographic efforts of Jedediah Hotchkiss. His hand drawn maps, many drawn from horseback, were "extraordinary for their accuracy." These maps were an essential tool used by Gen. Robert E. Lee in his many military successes.

On exhibit is Hotchkiss' Map of the Shenandoah Valley. The site allows you to zoom in to examine the detail:



I am reminded then, to share with you my two Civil War related map postcards. The first represents Lee and his generals examining a map (a Hotchkiss?)



Here is a map and panorama of people and events of the Civil War (click on image for a larger view).



This map is also available as a 1000-Piece Jigsaw Puzzle.

HT to Angela

Festival of Maps Are Here, Hon.

Following the successful Festival of Maps in Chicago, the City of Baltimore will host a Festival of Maps March 16 through June 30, 2008. The exhibit at The Walters Art Museum includes this map of Virginia that includes modern day Maryland:


Virginia, in A Map of Virginia: With a Description of the Country, the Commodities, People, Government, and Religion
by John Smith
1612; printed map
Newberry Library, Chicago (Gift of Edward E. Ayers)
British settler John Smith laid the colonial foundation with the publication of this 1612 map of Virginia.

"The Baltimore Festival of Maps is a citywide celebration organized by the Greater Baltimore Cultural Alliance to encourage Baltimore residents and visitors to explore museums, theaters, galleries and educational institutions." I wish I could be there.

You Are Here, Hon. is a blog by an enthusiastic map fan in Baltimore. She calls herself "Her Majesty of Maps. Just a local gal who has lots of attitude about latitude and who knows a thing or two about the map frenzy sweeping Charm City," She appears to be having a lot of fun posting maps from the exhibit, as well as oddball maps she finds along the way.

And here's something else I learned today: one of the nicknames for Baltimore is, "The Charm City." I'll buy that. I have visited the city many times and it has never been unpleasant. I love the Inner Harbor, the National Aquarium, and my favorite art museum in the world (sorry Walters), the American Visionary Art Museum.

The Politcal Clout of Fairfax County, Virginia

The Commonwealth of Virginia has been a fairly solid Republican state from many years. However, in response to President Bush's "unpopularity", Democrats gained control of the State Senate in last Tuesday's voting.

See: The Washington Post's Virginia Post-Election Roundup

In my previous post, I pointed to maps that demonstrate the cartographic "lie" of the national electoral map. Here, in yet another interesting map blog, The Electoral Map, Patrick Ottenhoff points out that the shift in State politics can be attributed, chiefly, to a shift in the voting pattern of the most populous county in the state: Fairfax County, suburb of Washington, D.C.



This map demonstrates the population of Fairfax County, relative to the rest of the state.