Loading map...

1893 Map of Franklin

Name: 1893 Topographic Map of Franklin
Creator: U.S. Geological Survey
Published: 1903
License: https://creativecommons.org/publicdomain/mark/1.0/

USGS Topo · Published 1903

About this map

The Charles River winds through this late nineteenth-century landscape of eastern Massachusetts and northern Rhode Island, defining a region where water power and rail infrastructure drove local development. Industrial centers and small milling villages like City Mills and Unionville are shown at their peak, connected by a dense web of transportation including the Woonsocket Div. and the Franklin Branch railroad lines. To the north, the terrain is dotted with substantial hills such as Mt. Nebo and Castle Hill, while the southern reaches towards the Rhode Island border feature extensive water bodies like Whiting Pond and Shepardville Reservoir.

This survey captures the region just before the automotive era, highlighting the importance of depots like Whitney Sta. and junctions such as Medfield Junc. Local genealogists will find value in the specific placement of outlying settlements including Sheldonville, Braggville, and Metcalf, many of which were defined by their proximity to the iron rails and small brook-fed ponds that sustained the local economy.