THE THREE-MILE SECTIONAL MAPS OF THE CANADIAN WEST

Abstract

Soon after the Confederation of Canada in 1867, settlement of the Prairies was initially assisted by the preparation of large-scale survey plans. Popular demand for maps at a more convenient scale prompted the Federal Department of the Interior to establish a map series at 6 miles to 1 inch in 1873. By 1891, it became evident that the scale was too small to show necessary map detail and accordingly the Department authorized a new series at 3 miles to 1 inch. This famous sectional map series of the Canadian West eventually increased to 132 sheets covering the great plains, and extending westward to the Pacific, eastward into Ontario and as far north as Dawson City in Yukon Territory. In 1919, a decision was made to convert this series of cadastral plans into topographic maps. The New Series maps remained in production from 1920 to 1955 when they were finally superseded by the 1:250,000 maps of the National Topographic Series.