Lake Huron Nautical Chart (1893) — Framed US Lake Survey General Chart

The story of this map

The general chart of a Great Lake is the one you hang. The harbour sheets are for pilots; this is the whole of Lake Huron on one page — the Straits of Mackinac at the top left, Manitoulin Island and the North Channel, the deep bite of Georgian Bay, Saginaw Bay on the Michigan side and the long run down to Port Huron — engraved by the US Lake Survey and corrected for lights and buoys to 1893.

Around the water the survey printed what a master needed: a list of lighthouses, a table of water levels, a column of dangers, the harbours of refuge and sailing directions, all in the plain type of a government office. The Leventhal Map Center’s copy has two 1894 notices tipped on in the upper corner, and the scan keeps them.

The sheet credits the survey begun under George Meade in the 1850s, which makes it a direct descendant of the first charting of the lakes. Restored with the paper tone and the stamps left in place; nothing redrawn. Pairs with the Isle Royale chart for a Superior-and-Huron wall.

Before and after

Left: the archive scan exactly as published. Right: the file that goes to the printer.

Lake Huron Nautical Chart, 1893: archive scan compared with the restored print

Archive scanRestored

Restoration notes

Restoration: trimmed the scanner margins, balanced levels while keeping the paper tone (65% of the original colour retained), removed dust and specks, applied gentle sharpening. Stamps, tipped-on notices and the wear of a used chart are kept where they belong to the object; nothing is redrawn.

Every print carries its archive credit on the packing slip. Paper tone and small imperfections of the original are kept on purpose; nothing is redrawn.

Questions

What does the chart show?

All of Lake Huron at 1:400,000 — the Straits of Mackinac, Manitoulin Island and the North Channel, Georgian Bay, Saginaw Bay and the Michigan and Ontario shores — with soundings, hachured coasts, lighthouse lists, dangers, harbours of refuge and sailing directions in the margins.

Who made it?

The US Lake Survey under the Topographical Bureau; the sheet credits General Meade's original survey and was corrected for aids to navigation to 1893. Two 1894 notices are tipped onto the Leventhal copy and have been kept.

Which size?

A portrait sheet at about 3:4; 18×24 in framed is the natural size, 24×30 in shows the marginal tables clearly.

Is this an original?

No — a new archival print from a restored scan of the Leventhal Map Center's copy, a public-domain US government chart. Not sold as an antique.

Colours vary between screens and paper. The tone you see here is a close match to the archival matte print; framed prints have no glass glare in these previews.

Pairs well with

Hang them together — 10% off the second framed print

Isle Royale Lake Superior Nautical Chart, 1891

US Lake Survey · Boston Public Library, Leventhal Map Center

$129 24×18 in framed · paper from $35

Lake Michigan Nautical Chart, 1894

US Lake Survey · Boston Public Library, Leventhal Map Center

$129 18×24 in framed · paper from $35

The discount is applied automatically at checkout when two or more framed prints are in the cart.

Size	Metric	Best for
12×16 in	30×41 cm	Desk, shelf, small wall, gallery groupings
12×18 in	30×46 cm	Desk, shelf, small wall, gallery groupings
16×20 in	41×51 cm	Above a desk or console, hallway, bedroom
16×24 in	41×61 cm	Above a desk or console, hallway, bedroom
18×24 in	46×61 cm	Above a desk or console, hallway, bedroom
20×30 in	51×76 cm	Over a sofa or bed, statement wall, office
24×30 in	61×76 cm	Over a sofa or bed, statement wall, office
24×32 in	61×81 cm	Over a sofa or bed, statement wall, office
24×36 in	61×91 cm	Over a sofa or bed, statement wall, office
30×40 in	76×102 cm	Over a sofa or bed, statement wall, office
32×48 in	81×122 cm	Over a sofa or bed, statement wall, office

Lake Huron Nautical Chart, 1893

Before and after

Restoration notes

Hang them together — 10% off the second framed print