Along the edges of the plat mat we discovered that wood glue had been used to glue many weak areas of the paper. This was carefully reversed by softening the wood glue and then scraping it from the vellum and the fabric. Once the map was removed from the muslin it was treated with chemistry baths to neutralize and lift the acid stains. Paper repairs were then administered at the areas of loss, incorporating new paper of a similar quality. Some delicate in-painting returned degraded color to its original strength. Re-lining helped to improve the overall structural integrity.

During our research we learned that A.G. Spalding bought the tract of 773 acres from the Harvey Land Association, and this combined with a previous adjacent tract, brought his total to 903 acres. An article in The Economist stated that Spalding was poised to improve the area with graded streets, sidewalks, trees and other landscape adornments “calculated to make it attractive.”

Albert Goodwill Spalding was an American baseball pitcher, manager, and executive in the early years of professional baseball. He co-founded the A.G. Spalding sporting goods company, and following his retirement as a baseball player, he became the president and part-owner of the Chicago White Stockings. He would later call for the commission that investigated the origins of baseball and credited Abner Doubleday with creating the game. He also wrote the first set of official baseball rules. He was inducted into the Baseball Hall of Fame in 1939, a posthomous honor, having passed in 1915 at the age of 66