Comparison, Towns

This map compares the towns and central places in both counties. Towns in Augusta were not as large and fully developed as those in Franklin. The average distance of all Augusta residences to Staunton was 9.4 miles and of all Franklin residences to Chambersburg was 8 miles. Augusta's towns were of a lesser order than Franklin's, most of them villages of twenty to fifty residents. Franklin, on the other hand, had nearly a dozen towns larger than Augusta's second largest place, Waynesboro.

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.

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Edward L. Ayers and William G. Thomas, III,
Comparison, Towns
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."