Who was the fake Mount Richard named after when it was sneaked onto
Chapter 1

Cartographic tricks and phantom places

Chapter 2

Legendary kingdoms that shaped history

Chapter 3

Pop culture nations and political satire

Chapter 4

Masterpieces of fantasy cartography

Ch 1 · Cartographic tricks and phantom places
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schopenhauer Martin Coles Harman established a self-proclaimed kingdom on Lundy Island.

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schopenhauer A cartographer sneaked a fictional mountain onto official government maps

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schopenhauer Agloe, New York is a famous paper town.

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schopenhauer Lundy Island

Buy the island, crown yourself King, pay with puffins!

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Mount Richard's peak of deception
BETA

schopenhauer Spot fake landmarks to discover how cartographers use fictional geography to trap copycats.

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The paper town of Agloe

schopenhauer In the 1930s, Otto G. Lindberg and Ernest Alpers invented Agloe to catch copycats, but a store later opened at those coordinates.

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Quiz

What real-world landmark was built at the coordinates of Agloe, New York, because it appeared on maps?

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Quiz

Which mapmaking company's founders invented the fictional town of Agloe, New York, as a copyright trap?

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What we treat as real, we eventually make real.

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Sandy Island the phantom land

schopenhauer The whaling ship Velocity first charted this phantom Pacific island in 1876

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Quiz

Which ship first recorded the existence of the non-existent Sandy Island in 1876?

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Quiz

In which body of water was the phantom Sandy Island mapped for over a century before being disproven in 2012?

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Fun Fact

Agloe's surprise: A fake town created by cartographers actually became a physical place with a general store because people believed the map [1].

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Quiz

In which US state did a cartographer sneakily add the fake Mount Richard to an official map in the 1970s?

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Quiz

Who was the fake Mount Richard named after when it was sneaked onto an official USGS map?

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Glossary
paper town (noun)
A fictional town or settlement added to a map by cartographers to detect copyright infringement. Otto G. Lindberg and Ernest Alpers created the fake settlement of Agloe, New York, in the 1930s.

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Quiz

What bird was featured on the unauthorized coins issued by Martin Coles Harman on Lundy Island?

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Quiz

In which body of water is the island of Lundy located?

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Gossip

Which phantom place would you visit?

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