A legendary Rhode Island store charts a new course for fans of paper maps
For more than 70 years, The Map Center has sold printed maps and atlases to cartographically inclined customers. The store’s fourth owner, Andrew Middleton, is finding new ways to reach an audience in the era of GPS.
Notes and Miscellanea
- Middleton’s enthusiasm is palpable, and much of his more fascinating inventory didn’t make the cut—including a contemporary map of the newly completed Panama Canal, which proudly listed how much time was now saved for different destinations.
- Directly across from The Map Center is a popular plant store, Jordan’s Jungle. Middleton notes—with characteristic humor—that many people walk into The Map Center by accident while looking for potted succulents. But others stick around, because they’re stricken by what they see.
- Among other treasures, the Boston subway map (at 1:48) connects to the Internet, and tiny bulbs indicate where the trains are located in real time.
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