Henry Francis Walling

Henry Francis Walling (1825–1888) was an American civil engineer, surveyor, and map publisher born in New York. Trained as a civil engineer, he turned to mapmaking in the mid-nineteenth century, producing some of the earliest detailed town and county maps in New England. By the 1850s he had established himself in Boston, where he created wall maps, town plans, and atlases noted for their accuracy and careful surveying. His early works included detailed maps of Massachusetts towns such as Newton and Boston, which combined precise topographical data with inset views of public buildings, businesses, and residences.

Walling’s maps became a model for local cartography in the United States during the mid-nineteenth century. He published numerous county atlases, and his work extended beyond Massachusetts into Rhode Island, New York, and other states. Many of his atlases were issued with hand coloring and elaborate detail, providing a valuable record of land ownership, transportation routes, and community development. In later years Walling worked with larger firms, contributing his expertise to commercial atlas production. He died in 1888, remembered as one of the leading American surveyors and map publishers of his generation.