mysterious recycled R found on old Maine map

"Hey Chummy, would that be the AHH you
drawped the othah day???"

Indeed, a good thrifty Maine Yankee would
surely hesitate to waste a good re-usable item,
and that would include the Rs (pronounced AHHs)
many of us will drop left and right like mussel shells
on the beach.

Well, in the midst of conserving a map of the Portland
region, the crew in the Portland Room (Special Collections & Archives) at the Portland Public Library, came across an amazing example of an apparently recycled R.

The Map of Cape Elizabeth, albeit produced in the far-off, foreign land of Massachusetts (see bottom photo), shows the Katahdin Road (for which we locals will take our liberties in drawing out the already- existing "ah" out as our musical speech of the moment will dictate) indicated with what seems to be a reconstituted R.

A detail on a map so tiny, yet so noticeable, reveals the name Katardin in plain capitalized block type (see detail immediately below).

Strange Things do happen
when our local cadences are
misinterpreted- and then
re-interpreted again,
even on road maps!

Another good reason, especially in this
area-rrr to use care when treading, as you
might find yourself stepping right over a
discahhded R.