Author's Collection
Little is known of Boardman. He re-used Bond’s elevations, except for that of Mount Washington. In August 1857, he was seen carrying an odometer around the White Mountains to determine distances for this map. In 1858, Boardman follows Bond in exchanging the names of Mt. Jefferson and Mt. Adams, but he corrects this in the 1859 issue. The map has characteristics of both a topographical map, in its precise measurements and its detailed specification of buildings and landforms, and a souvenir map, with its vignettes of hostelries superimposed on the topography. Take note not only of the locations of many of the hotels and inns, but also of some of the early footpaths and bridle paths, such as the Crawford Path and the Carriage Road up Mt. Washington, the path up Mt. Moriah, an early path up Mt. Pleasant (now Mt. Eisenhower), and a path whose route was followed within a few years by the famous Mt. Washington Cog Railroad. Although the hachuring with its knobby summits is more complex and incorporates a degree of shading, some of which makes Mt. Washington appear more massy than the other peaks, it conveys little more information than Bond’s map does, showing just the locations and not the contours of the peaks. There appear to be very distinct ridges, depicted as strings of knobs, but the Franconia Range, which is labeled, paradoxically does not appear to be a distinct range. One feature of this map that seems to be unique is the identification of the many saw mills along the rivers throughout the region.
The vignette in the upper right is of the Summit and Tip Top Houses, both simple hotels on the summit of Mount Washington. There exists a photograph (stereoview) from the early 1860s that shows the interior of Tip Top House with a framed copy of the Boardman map distinctly visible on the wall. Those who know both the map and the photograph may feel a strange sense of reflectivity in the artifacts. Visitors to the restored Tip Top House will find a copy of Boardman’s map hanging on in exactly the same position in which it appears in that photograph.
Other states and editions:
There were four issues of this map. There may be a second state of the 1858 issue with the labels of Adams and Jefferson corrected. With this correction, the map was reissued the next year in Harvey Boardman, A Complete and Accurate Guide to and around the White Mountains (Boston, 1859). The corrected map was then again reissued, without further alteration, in 1860 and 1864. The later versions also add that the Flume House is managed by A. H. Dunton, and the manager of the Profile House is changed from B. Taft to H. Bell. The legend stating that the Carriage Road is complete up to the Ledge is not updated. All the issues are dated 1858, but the hard covers in which they were published give the actual years. A second edition, by H. S. Fifield, was issued in 1871. This is identical to the last Boardman issue, but with the addition of Fifield’s name, a depiction of the cog railway and ‘Marshville,’ and changes in the names of some of the hotel proprietors. It was printed in Boston by John H. Bufford. Fifield was a stereographer who for many years photographed visitors to the Flume in Franconia Notch.
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