This chart picks-up from the work carried out up and down the New England coastline by the British between 1760 and 1782 where a combination of detailed hydrography and artistic representation combine to produce an informative yet attractive item.  It was produced at much the same time as George Eldridge was working as an independent chart maker on his charts of the coast-line of New England.

Land relief is shown in great detail through hachuring, and land holding, settlements, and even individual buildings and homes are marked.  Roads and railways are also marked with great accuracy.  The hydrographic information is presented on the chart both as soundings and by notes on tides and lighthouses, along with sailing directions when approaching from the Southw’d.

Rockport and Cape Anne was settled by Europeans in the 17th century and the indigenous Indian population dissipated mainly through disease.  By 1750, with the completion of the first dock in the town (1743), Rockport became a centre for the timber and fishing trade.  By the early 1800s Rockport had developed into a centre for high grade granite which was shipped out of the harbor from the nearby quarries.  The Rockport Granite Company is marked on the chart just to the north of the town above Sandy Bay.

In 1856, just about the time the survey work for this chart was being produced, 200 women, led by Hannah Jumper, protesting the proliferation of alcohol in the town rampaged through the town.  This later became known as the ‘revolt against rum’ and led to Rockport remaining one of fifteen towns in Massachusetts to being ‘dry’.  This statute remained in place up until only a few years ago.  Even now alcohol is only permitted to be sold in the town in restaurants accompanied by meals.