Falmouth Harbour - Vintage map, Norman B. Leventhal Collection nautical chart

The town of Falmouth (present-day Portland, Me.) was the most important supplier of forest products in the British Empire before the American Revolutionary War. Falmouth's large harbor was well protected, was easily defendable and was adjacent to vast forests of white pine, all of which contributed to the town's commercial success. This 1777 chart of the region is the first state, or edition of the map, and it details the harbor islands, as well as inland topography, roads and settlements. By the dawn of the Revolutionary War, Britain was dependent on wood produced in the colonies, and Falmouth was a key component of the extensive lumber trade.
Courtesy of Boston Public Library