In 1789 surveyor Jonathan Price was the first to recognised and respond to the notion that the State of North Carolina was at the forefront of a developing nation. Initially, Price funded the project out of his own pocket but by 1792 he had been forced to make representation to the North Carolina House of Assembly for funds in order to continue with his work. Although he secured some funds it was not a large amount and it came in the form of a loan. He used the money to engage the draftsman William Christmas and by 1795 he had expanded his operation with a partnership with fellow surveyor, John Strother.
By this time the magnitude of the task was evident and despite even more funding having been secured from individuals more money was needed, which simply added to the burden of debt.
In line with all great tales of vision and fortitude two of the State of North Carolina's most prominent political figures stepped-in to save the project: David Stone, a future U.S. Senator and governor and Peter Brown, an esteemed jurist, agreed to support the project through to its conclusion. It is to these two patrons that the map is dedicated, for without them it may never have been completed.
Price and Strother, relieved of the burden of finance, worked tirelessly for the next few years during which they employed the most up-to-date methods, techniques and equipment to complete the herculean task of surveying the entire state.
It was Stothers' drive to base the map only on new up to date surveys, as opposed to existing maps, which ultimately made the difference in the quality and accuracy of the map. Consideration of the sort of terrain that the men had to cross, navigate and survey makes the finished map all the more amazing. The survey, upon its conclusion, was taken by Price to Philadelphia, to the engraver William Harrison.
For all of it’s excellence the map caused consternation at the time of publication due to an oversight at the Harrison engraving shop that saw that the lines of Longitude on the map do not correspond at the top and at the bottom: On the western side of the map the deviance is about 1 degree.
The map presented here is a second state of the map. It is dated 1808 whereas the first edition carried no date imprint. All of the counties are beautifully coloured and all major towns and villages are marked, along with major buildings such as court houses, mills, private estates, meeting houses and foundries. All of the waterways, roads and paths are shown and individual homesteads and houses are not just marked but owners are named.
Overall the Price-Strother map deserves its place in American cartographic history simply because it tells an accurate story of life in the State. To many it pointed the way to a coming period of prosperity, through agriculture, technology and politics. It is said that when the map was published, Price was excused full repayment of the monies he had borrowed from the House of Assembly in the early years, in recognition of the accomplishment.
This map, perhaps above all others of its time, is quite simply a masterpiece of early American cartography. Made in the years following the Revolutionary war and the creation of the fledgling American Nation it epitomized the spirit which would eventually lead to the creation of modern day America. In 1789 surveyor Jonathan Price was the first to recognised and respond to the notion that the State of North Carolina was at the forefront of a developing nation.
