This is probably more than you want to know about the Mills' Atlas One can order county maps from each county's genealogy society and I think from the local court house. This is where I purchased my first for Chester County in the 1970s. Also, you can order Chester District's Mills' Atlas from the Chester Dist. Gen. Society These are great for framing!! Make great gifts!! Small Size 8 1/2" x 11" $2.00 Large Size 20" x 30" $5.00 address for ordering: The CDGS P.O. Box 336 Richburg, SC 29729 http://www.rootsweb.com/~scchest2/scchesterinfo.html -------- For the book try this: Mills' Atlas: Atlas of the State of South Carolina, 1825 (Hardcover) by S. Emmett Lucas try www.Amazon.com ------- more about Mill's Atlas Subject: Mills' Atlas of 1825 http://members.tripod.com/Coker_Forum/c01494.htm From: Steve Coker Date: March 11, 1998 Robert Mills "Atlas of the State of South Carolina 1825" In 1826 Robert Mills submitted to the South Carolina State Senate a copy of his Atlas. It was the first atlas of an American state. Several dozen individuals had worked since 1815 to complete the Atlas. At least twenty surveyors had prepared careful surveys of every District. As Mill's later stated, South Carolina was "now acknowledged to be in advance of her Sister States ..." In his speech given at the 6th International Conference on the History of Cartography, 7-11 September, 1975, Walter W. Ristow noted that Maine and New York published state atlases in 1829 and that no other state published another one for thirty-five years. The Atlas includes maps of each of the then existing Districts in South Carolina. Each District map shows place names, waterbodies, roads, and other useful information. Plantations, farms, mills, ferries, and more are shown usually using the name of the owner. For example, several Coker families are shown in the Atlas. My ancestor Whitley Coker is shown with the place name "Whitley Coker's Plt." on the Sumter District map as being about 5-10 miles Southwest of the town of Sumterville (now Sumter) along Cain Savanna Creek. Also shown on the Sumter District map are John Coker, Thomas Coker, and Henry Coker. In Barnwell District is shown a Mrs. Coker and in Laurens District is shown Coker. There were actually four essential works produced. First, there were surveys made of each District between 1817 and 1821. Second, there were some district maps produced between 1818 and 1821 from some of the surveys. Third, in the fall of 1821 the first 50 copies of Wilson's Map of the State were printed and another 2,500 were printed in April 1882. And Fourth, Robert Mills worked to produce the Atlas between 1823 and 1825 using the earlier works as the basis. The Atlas was published in 1825 and first distributed in 1826. The first three projects were funded and controlled by the State. However, the sales of the State Map were miserable. As a result, the State Legislature did not accept proposals to produce an Atlas made in 1821 and 1822 by the Board of Public Works. Mills was one of the two paid Commissioners of the Board of Public Works. The Board of Public Works was abolished in 1822 and replaced with a Superintendent of Public Works. In 1823, Mills requested permission to privately produce an atlas. On 19 December, 1823, the Legislature ratified a contract for Mills to produce the Atlas. The original contract called for the State to receive "at least" 12 free atlases and to purchase fifty more at a total cost of $600. By December 1825, a new contract had been made and the State was to receive 80 atlases for $1,200. Mills charged $16 per copy to regular subscribers. The number of Atlases printed for the first edition is unknown. At least one thousand separate district maps were printed. By 1980 there had been seven printings of the Atlas, including the 1980 reprint. Mills himself reprinted a rare edition of about 1838. The third printing was in 1938 by Lucy Hampton Bostick and Fant H. Thornley. The Fourth printing was in 1965 by Robert Pearce Wilkins and John D. Keels, Jr. The fifth printing was in 1979 by A. Press, Inc. The sixth printing was in 1979 by the Sandlapper Store, Inc. The seventh printing was in 1980 by the Southern Historical Press, c/o The Rev. S. Emmett Lucas Jr., P.O. Box 738, Easely, SC 29640. The 7th edition was dedicated to the South Carolina Historical Society, Mr. and Mrs. Charles Gignilliat, and Mr. Gene Waddell. Gene Waddell wrote the introduction for the seventh printing. The Atlas should be available in the reference departments or rare books section of main libraries in the State of South Carolina or at the SC Historical Society or at the Library of Congress. Library of Congress Catalog card no. 80-54390 ISBN-0-89308-197-3 ==== COKER Mailing List ==== Been on the South Carolina Information Highway (SCIWAY) lately? http://www.sciway.net ***** ----- Original Message ----- From: <[email protected]> To: <[email protected]> Sent: Friday, May 26, 2006 9:47 AM Subject: [SCCHEST2] Mill's Atlas > That is a great map of Chester County. Is "Mill's Atlas" a book that can be > ordered, if so, how? > Paul R. White > [email protected] > > > ==== SCCHEST2 Mailing List ==== > Please support the Chester District Genealogical Society!!! Details are on the main Chester County Web page - membership info, research help and publications are available!!! > >