Oak Island Treasure Map c.1974

By the 1970s, Oak Island had already spent nearly two centuries suspended between documented history and enduring legend. This striking black-ground treasure map, meticulously plotted and drawn by Fred Nolan in 1974, captures the island at a moment when modern surveying techniques were brought to bear on one of North America's most persistent mysteries—the search for buried treasure. Set within Mahone Bay on Nova Scotia's Atlantic coast, the map presents Oak Island as a compact but densely annotated landscape. Roads, shorelines, swamps, and coves are rendered with careful precision, while handwritten notes, symbols, and dashed lines trace generations of excavation, speculation, and discovery. Unlike traditional scenic maps, Nolan's work reads as both a chart and an argument, suggesting relationships between features long thought to be isolated clues. At the heart of the map lies the infamous Money Pit, marked amid a web of shafts, tunnels, and former dig sites. Depth scales descend into darkness, noting bedrock, flood tunnels, and earlier excavation attempts that ended in collapse or inundation. Nearby, Smith's Cove, Smugglers' Cove, and the so-called "Pirate Cove" are labeled as possible entry points, reinforcing theories that Oak Island's secrets were protected by complex man-made systems rather than chance. Elsewhere, the map highlights the island's natural features—the swamp, oak groves, and shoreline rock formations—many annotated with tantalizing remarks about stone alignments, drilled rocks, and unusual markings. Nolan's inclusion of bearings, compass roses, and precise distances reflects his background as a professional surveyor, lending an air of technical authority to a subject often dominated by folklore. The dramatic illustration of a sailing ship off the coast underscores the enduring belief that Oak Island's mystery is tied to maritime wealth—pirates, privateers, or lost expeditions whose riches were hidden with extraordinary care. Yet the map stops short of declaring conclusions. Instead, it lays evidence side by side, inviting the viewer to study, question, and imagine. Fred Nolan's map immortalizes Oak Island not as a solved puzzle, but as an active investigation. It preserves a moment when legend met measurement, and when centuries of rumor were translated into lines, depths, and coordinates—offering a rare glimpse into the disciplined obsession that has kept Oak Island alive in the public imagination.

Archival paper printed with museum-quality inks. Canvas stretched over solid pine frames. Gallery-quality finish ready to hang.