Students' map recreates historical geography with modern GIS tools

When the Botetourt County Historical Society celebrated the 250th anniversary of the county’s establishment on March 14 with a special ceremony, its members sought to have a map printed that showed the county in that timeframe. 

Where does one go to have such a map created?

One member suggested the Virginia Tech Department of Geography, so a cursory search turned up Advanced Instructor Stewart Scales, who teaches cartography as well as the Geography of Appalachia and the Geography of Virginia.

“The Botetourt Historical Society sent an email asking if we could make a map for them. I responded, ‘I know some people who can,’” Scales said.

Scales has three undergraduate teaching assistants in his cartography class who know how to build maps: seniors Sarah Cohoon and Hannah Crook and sophomore Emma Dilic. Cohoon is majoring in meteorology with a minor in geography. Crook is an environmental data science major with a graphic information systems (GIS) minor. Dilic is a geography major with a minor in GIS.

They jumped at the chance to make the map of a nearby county from a bygone era.

“They provided us with what they envisioned and what they wanted it to look like. It was on us to find the data, find the points they wanted, like the rivers, the towns, important sites,” Crook said.

Dilic said the first task was research.

“We went to a website that has the historical counties of Virginia on it,” she said. “We found the time period of Botetourt they wanted, and we imported it into the GIS program, giving us the outline of the county.”

From there, they located towns already established at the time and included newer, known sites to provide a frame of reference. 

Researching the map provided history lessons to its creators. Cohoon said they had not realized that this region was the frontier at the time.

In 1773, Botetourt County extended through what is now West Virginia, all the way to the Ohio River. Point Pleasant, West Virginia, is on the map because it was the site of an important battle in 1774 – a battle that would have happened in Botetourt, despite being 160 miles from Fincastle. The Battle of Point Pleasant, fought against the Shawnee, was pivotal in compelling an armistice that allowed the nascent colonial army to avoid a war on two fronts and focus on its conflict with the British.

The map-making experience, while not an assignment for credit in a class, was a valuable opportunity to learn. During the map's creation, the students met multiple times with members of the historical society to get their feedback.

“Putting aside your design aspects and shifting more toward what the client wants and also working with other people who also have design aspects, that’s something that was really helpful,” Cohoon said. “It’s not going to be exactly what I envision, or what Hannah or Emma envisions, but we can work together to make something everyone likes.”

The three map creators and Scales presented the map at a special meeting of the Botetourt Historical Society, where reaction was entirely positive.

“I loved seeing their reactions to the map,” Dilic said. “They were really grateful and really happy we were able to bring their vision to life, and that’s something you don’t get to see in the classroom. You don’t get to see the impact you map has on a small community like Botetourt.”

Lynsey Allie, executive director of the Botetourt Historical Society, said the finished map was exactly what she and the society were hoping for.

“The society was highly impressed with Professor Scales' and his students’ map of 1770s Botetourt, especially given that no known map of the county from this time period exists.” Allie said. “Their research and cartographic work provide an invaluable perspective on the county’s early geography. The plan is to have the map displayed in the museum’s upcoming ‘Give Me Liberty’ exhibit. It will also serve as an educational tool, helping to connect students and visitors with Botetourt's past.”