Executed at ½ mile to the inch, this map shows Concord’s major topographical features, street layout, with distances from the city center marked off at regular intervals. The locations of dwellings are shown, a legend at lower left identifies 20 public buildings and churches, and tiny symbols indicate cemeteries and the sites of garrisons erected by the early settlers. The map pays particular attention to boundaries: The seven wards are delineated, the city’s external boundaries are laid out with the bearing and length of each segment, and different forms of dotted line differentiate the city’s original boundaries from areas annexed at a later date. Of these the most notable are the two areas named “Bow Gore,” lying to the east and to the southeast, which were absorbed by Concord in 1804.

The map is held by many institutions, but it is important and quite difficult to find on the market. While previous maps—most notably one issued in 1851 by H.F. Walling—had depicted the built-up center of the city, Badger’s is the first published map showing the full extent of Concord.

[Badger] was a native of Warner, New Hampshire, where he was born April 12, 1797. He was graduated from Dartmouth College in 1823, and admitted to the bar in 1826. He first located in New London, New Hampshire, but in 1833 removed to Concord, where he lived until his death. He was clerk of the courts of Merrimack County from 1834 to 1836, and was police magistrate for several years previous to the adoption of the city charter. This office gave him the honorary title of Judge. He was a fine mathematician, and a practical and scientific engineer. Among other drawings he made in 1855 a valuable map of the city of Concord, New Hampshire, which was published as a supplement to Bouton’s History [of Concord]. (Genealogical and Family History of the State of New Hampshire, vol. II p. 547)

References
Cobb, New Hampshire, #222; OCLC #22755513. Not in Antique Map Price Record.