Remember Cliffside

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It all began when Horton Landreth told me he owned a map of Cliffside. I couldn't believe it; I never knew such a map existed. He had acquired it when the downtown buildings were being torn down in the '70s. (I've since heard that there are other copies.)

The map was drawn by Mr. R. E. Carpenter, an engineer (perhaps the engineer) for the mill. The title and legend at left are taken directly from the map.

The legend indicates the house numbers are drawn outside the house symbols, while the number of rooms are drawn inside the symbols. Mr. Carpenter was careful to note that he had not included any outbuildings on the map.

For internet use, the map is huge: 28" x 19", larger than an ordinary scanner can handle. After a graphics company scanned it for me, it became apparent that the map in its original form just wouldn't do. It had been drawn upon, was discolored from age, was stained in places, had been torn and fixed with cellophane tape (which had subsequently deteriorated). In short, it was a mess. So, I pulled the huge file (about 150 megabytes) up in Photoshop and began restoring the document, a process that took several weeks. I began by replacing the entire background with a single color, outlining and filling one small area at a time. Then I overdrew all lines, words and symbols, making them darker for readability (using green on street names and red on the railroad tracks). In a few places it required major reconstruction, but largely the placement of words and symbols, and the visual style and character are Mr. Carpenter's own.

I hope you enjoy it. Thank Horton Landreth the next time you see him. — Reno Bailey

It is not possible, at least for me, to display a readable version of the map as a single graphic. Therefore you must choose individually the areas of town you want to view. On the next page is an “index map,” from which you can choose them. If you wish to print an individual section, notice whether it qualifies as a “portrait” (tall) or “landscape” (wide) format, then set your printer to the proper format before you begin printing.

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