The King's Highway to Lancaster: A graph-theory analysis of colonial Pennsylvania's road network

摘要

Although they have been the subject of intense cartographic investigation, few colonial American maps have been systematically investigated using modern network analysis. William Scull's 1770 map of Pennsylvania was digitised and examined using graph analyses to determine which routes were most important in connecting Philadelphia with its extended hinterland, of which river crossings were the most important, and what role the road network played in the rapid growth and development of Lancaster, one of the largest inland towns at the time. Several important routes to the western frontier were delineated and it was found that Lancaster was located in an area of high accessibility and connectivity, which allowed the town to become colonial Pennsylvania's most important inland entrepot.