Loading map...

1903 Map of Cornwall

Name: 1903 Topographic Map of Cornwall
Creator: U.S. Geological Survey
Published: 1913
License: https://creativecommons.org/publicdomain/mark/1.0/

USGS Topo · Published 1913

About this map

The Housatonic River carves a deep valley through the Litchfield Hills, serving as the primary corridor for the Berkshire Division of the New York New Haven and Hartford RR. This early twentieth-century landscape is defined by a dense network of iron-era settlements and water-powered industrial sites. In the northwest, the mining history of Ore Hill and the iron works at Salisbury and Lakeville are linked by the Central New England RR, which skirts the shores of Wononscopomuc Lake.

Upland communities like Sharon, Cornwall, and Ellsworth are positioned on the high ridges between drainage basins like Salmon Creek and the Hollenbeck River. The map meticulously details the transit infrastructure of the day, from the small depot at Limerock Sta. to the crossings at Cornwall Bridge. Massive topographic features such as Canaan Mountain and Mohawk Mountain dominate the eastern reaches, while numerous small ponds like Mudge Pond and Tyler Pond indicate the complex glacial hydrology of the region.