Loading map...

1944 Map of Townsend

Name: 1944 Topographic Map of Townsend
Creator: U.S. Geological Survey
Published: 1944
License: https://creativecommons.org/publicdomain/mark/1.0/

USGS Topo · Published 1944

About this map

The Squannacook River carves a central path through this mid-century landscape, anchoring the settlements of Townsend, West Townsend, and Townsend Harbor during the later years of World War II. The Boston and Maine RR parallels the river, marking the transportation corridor that sustained the local economy of mills and small-scale industry. The map captures a high density of civic and family history sites, including Riverside Cem, Hillside Cem, and Center Cem, alongside the Highland School.

North across the state line in New Hampshire, the terrain shifts into the lower Merrimack Valley watershed, where Brookline and South Brookline sit among numerous water bodies like Potanipo Pond and Cider Mill Pond. This survey highlights a rural New England transition from established village centers to the wooded uplands of The Throne and Townsend Hill, preserving the names of old routes like Old Turnpike and Pond Bridge before the onset of modern suburbanization.