What Cheer? What Cove?

By 1851, the idea of filling in the once-mighty Great Salt Cove had almost been entirely normalized. The demands of the city and its industrial sector had been gnawing away at the cove lands in nibbles and chunks. Now, with the advent of railroads, more of the watery territory was slated for hardening. This 1851 map by Cushing & Walling Co. positions the new railroad facilities as a fait accompli, with the much-diminished cove now constricted into a seemingly perfect ellipse. Samuel Barrett Cushing was an engineer and long-time surveyor who at one point served as Providence’s City Surveyor. He must have been well aware of politicians’ and industry leaders’ agendas. Henry Francis Walling began working with Cushing in the 1840s. This map is a rare early example of a folding map, appropriate for the hustle and bustle, on-the-go energy of a rapidly developing Providence.