An old map of the United States is finding new life at Presque Isle’s Turner Memorial Library.
When Claude Lamoreau was a child, he found an 1853 hand-colored map of the United States and North America in the attic of his family’s home in Easton.
Lamoreau believes the map may have been used by one of Easton’s local one-room schools before making its way to the attic of his parent’s home, where they settled in the 1920s.
The large map, printed by Colton’s, hung in the home of Lamoreau and his late wife Marilyn for years. Now Lamoreau has passed the map onto the Turner Memorial Library, in an effort to share a well-preserved piece of history.
An 1853 map of the United States was donated by Claude Lamoreau to Presque Isle’s Turner Memorial Library, which is going to be working with a map conservationist to frame the piece and display it at the library. (Anthony Brino)
“Our wishes were for it to be actively displayed and available for the citizens of the Presque Isle area to view and enjoy,” Lamoreau wrote in his donation letter to the library.
The map, which was professionally appraised and valued at $5,800, will be on display after it is framed, said Sonya Eyler, library director.
The library will be working with the Presque Isle Historical Society to create a historical display for the map, which is one of a number of local and historic artifacts and artworks housed at the library.
“We’ll be working to find an archivist or map conservationist to really protect it,” Eyler said.
