1868 Transylvania County Map

The map collection in the Local History Room at the
Transylvania County Library has over 500 maps.  
This includes a variety of maps covering different areas of the county,
the Pisgah National Forest and western North Carolina, as well as a small
number beyond the region.

The largest group is USGS topographic maps from the 1930s
through the 1970s.  Topographic
maps feature large-scale detail, usually using contour lines, showing both natural and man-made features. 

Natural land features include named mountains, knobs,
rocks, coves, gaps, and valleys, along with their elevations.  Water features include rivers and lakes, as
wells as smaller streams and creeks and waterfalls.

Man-made features include the roads and towns
but also mark small communities, such as Cedar Mountain and even subdivisions,
like Sherwood Forest.  The older editions
can also aid in pinpointing locations of sites that no longer exist, such as
Breese Mill on Hogsed Creek, the Little River School or Camp Burgess Glen.  Other man-made features include churches, cemeteries, 

community centers, airports, golf courses, lookout towers, power
plants, gaging stations and bridges.

The earliest map of Transylvania County is dated
1868.  It shows townships, rivers, roads,
bridges, churches and mills.  The map was
drawn by T.G. Henson, the first county surveyor.

Early Town of Brevard Map

The
earliest Town of Brevard map shows a town square for public use with
four small lots on each the east and west sides.   Main Street was laid out running east-west
through the square.  Broad Street ran to
the south only.  Caldwell Street was the main north-south
thoroughfare.

Another
group of maps cover forest lands in the Pisgah and Nantahala National Forest
and along the Blue Ridge Parkway.  These
included both trail and land management maps.

There
are over 100 subdivision plats from the 1970s covering housing developments in
Boyd, Brevard, Cathey’s Creek, Dunn’s Rock, Eastatoe, Gloucester, Hogback and
Little River Townships.

In
addition there are reprints of historical North Carolina maps.

To
access an index of the map holdings visit the Transylvania County Library
website at library.transylvaniacounty.org. 
Click on the Local History button and then Indexes.

Photographs and information for this column are provided
by the Rowell Bosse North Carolina Room, Transylvania County Library.  Visit the NC Room during regular library
hours (Monday-Friday) to learn more about our history and see additional
photographs.  For more information,
comments or suggestions contact Marcy at [email protected]
or 828-884-3151 X242.