Comparison, Elevation

This map set compares the elevations in both counties with residences included. In both places residents lived at all elevations, but settlement concentrated in the broad plains along rivers and streams.

The maps are derived from a D. H. Davison map of Franklin County, published in 1858, and a Jedediah Hotchkiss map of Augusta County, published in 1870, and based on surveys completed "during the war." The maps have been georeferenced at the Virginia Center for Digital History, using ESRI Arc Info to produce a Geographic Information Systems map and database of households.

Larger Version of Image

Edward L. Ayers and William G. Thomas, III
Comparison, Elevation
2001

"Chambersburg was a larger place than Staunton, but no more vibrant or connected to the market than its Southern counterpart."

"Franklin and Augusta exhibited different spatial organizations, with a more organized and commercial approach in Franklin and a settlement in Augusta that followed the contours of soil and land more closely."