Old bicycle maps

Over at the phred bicycle touring list, there was a request for an Ordnance Survey map from England. A list member offered one that was published in 1959.

I got to thinking that for my bicycle rides, I often look for maps a lot older than that.

Sunday afternoon’s ride was guided in part by an 1873 atlas of Eaton County, Michigan. The part I was interested in — the northeast part of Hamlin Township, is shown above. (The atlas is online at Michigan County Histories and Atlases.)

When I saw from the map that in 1873 John Montgomery (or a like-named son) still owned some of the prairie he had settled on, and when I learned that he was still alive in 1880, I figured there was a good chance that house still existed. It does, and that’s the one I wrote about yesterday.

The location is circled in red on the above map. I had to get that map out as I rode east along the street. There were several old houses amongst the newer ones, which probably correspond to the other residences marked on that map, and I had to use the map to remind myself that Montgomery’s was very close to the county line.

I wondered if there was still a school at the location kitty-corner across the street from Montgomery’s residence. As shown above, a school-like building is still there, now nicely converted into a residence.

The east-west street leading back into town is busier now than it was in John Montgomery’s day. I’ve ridden there before when it was -very- busy. But once you get into the city limits of Eaton Rapids, there is a marked bike lane.