1975 Map of Ware

About this map

Gilbertville and Wheelwright sit along the winding course of the Ware River in this 1975 aerial orthophotograph, which reveals the land-use patterns of central Massachusetts during the mid-1970s. The imagery highlights the tight relationship between the river and the industrial-residential clusters that formed at its bends. While the villages of Hardwick and New Braintree anchor the surrounding highlands, the dense woods and agricultural clearings around Ragged Hill dominate much of the quadrangle's interior. This survey, published in 1981 by the Geological Survey, provides an unvarnished view of the region's topography, from the developed town centers like Ware in the southwest to the rural reaches of the Pioneer Valley's eastern edge.