Title: [cartouche, bottom right corner] A Map of
Frederick and Washington counties State of Maryland Executed Anno Domini 1808 by Chs. Varle Engineer & Geographer.

Engraved by: Francis Shallus Philadelphia.

Scale: Bar scale indicates 10 miles.

Dimensions: Sheet 55.1 x 90.5 cm.; image 52.9 x 90.5 cm. Engraving. Hand colored.

Insets: Plan of Hagerstown; Plan of Frederick.

Scale: Bar scale indicates 2000 feet.

Dimensions: 19.1 x 33.1 cm.

A Map of Frederick and Washington Counties, 1808

The "Map of Frederick and Washington Counties" is the first known county map in the United States. Its maker, Charles Varle, was an immigrant from France, who had come to the United States via Haiti. He settled in Philadelphia in about 1794. Both in Haiti and in Philadelphia, Varle worked in the field of surveying and mapmaking. In about 1798 Varle came to Maryland to work as Superintendent of the Susquehanna Canal Company. In the forty or more years that he lived in the United States Varle was involved in a variety of geographical projects and publications.

Varle made two county maps: the 1808 map shown here and its 1809 companion piece for Frederick, Berkeley and Jefferson Counties, Virginia. The latter map was accompanied by a topographical description of the counties. These county maps, like the map of Maryland by Dennis Griffith (no.10), reflect the rising demand for maps that offered practical information. Farms, roads, mills, churches, taverns, forges, furnaces and district boundaries are indicated. The map was sold on a subscription basis for $3 each. For an additional $2 a landowner could have his farm identified on the map.

It is not known how many copies of this map were made, but Stephenson (p. 90) locates only two copies in the United States.

References:
L. McCauley, 1975, V47; R. Stephenson, 1972, p. 190.

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