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1876 Map Symbol - Farm or Burial Rows?

Diggndabeeps

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Joined
Aug 19, 2022
Messages
186
Location
Porter County, IN
May someone comment on the 1876 attached map? Not sure what the vertical lines mean that accompany the black square homesites. I found a somewhat similar symbol on another map and it was identified with the word Reihengrab; the German word for burial rows. Are these family cemeteries or just an identifier for a farm? Thanks
 

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That's a weird one I've never seen either. I agree it shouldn't be burial, those are usually a little cross or something. I'll have to dig around
 
So I started thinking like Hoser said along the lines of tilled fields, thinking maybe it's just a generic symbol indicating farms. I found this link on a Google search for 1800s map symbols. Last part shows it as "cultivated land". They probably left it as small icons to not crowd the map up while trying to show property ownership.

01_plains.png
 
Grateful for the feedback. Based on the above info, I'm now sure that the symbol on the map I posted indicates tilled & cultivated land. Perhaps a carryover somehow to show 'improved' land per Lincoln's Homestead Act requirement. Thanks again everybody.
 
I agree with the comments from others that it is likely cultivated land. I am curious about the map makers. Is there any identification on the map about who made the map(s)? German language descriptions on the map is curious for the US, presumably in the Midwest. At that time there were many German immigrants in the Midwest. I'm interested in the history of the maps.
 
From their position, location near houses, and the fairly large number of them, cultivated land, like gardens. At that time, many people raised gardens because there were no grocery stores nearby, so they grew their own vegetables. Remember the time frame.
 
The plat map was published by A. G. Hardesty but the county website did not include any sort of title page when scanned for the online database.. The German reference I made was simply from another, totally different, map legend I found online when looking for legends. I didn't record the source details.
 
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