{"id":13005,"date":"2025-05-20T09:30:34","date_gmt":"2025-05-20T14:30:34","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.agron.iastate.edu\/glsi\/?p=13005"},"modified":"2026-04-02T08:53:20","modified_gmt":"2026-04-02T13:53:20","slug":"map-of-the-square-and-stationary-earth-1893","status":"publish","type":"map","link":"https:\/\/www.agron.iastate.edu\/glsi\/map\/map-of-the-square-and-stationary-earth-1893\/","title":{"rendered":"Map of the Square and Stationary Earth (1893)"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<div class=\"wp-block-ugb-container ugb-container ugb-31d465b ugb-container--v2 ugb-container--design-plain ugb-main-block\"><style>.ugb-31d465b-wrapper > .ugb-container__side{align-items:center !important}@media screen and (min-width:768px){.ugb-31d465b-content-wrapper.ugb-container__content-wrapper{width:75% !important}.ugb-31d465b.ugb-container{padding-left:60px !important}}@media screen and (min-width:768px){.ugb-31d465b > .ugb-inner-block > .ugb-block-content > *{padding-top:0px !important;padding-bottom:0px !important}}<\/style><div class=\"ugb-inner-block\"><div class=\"ugb-block-content\"><div class=\"ugb-container__wrapper ugb-31d465b-wrapper\"><div class=\"ugb-container__side\"><div class=\"ugb-container__content-wrapper ugb-31d465b-content-wrapper\"><\/div><\/div><\/div><\/div><\/div><\/div>\n\n\n\n<div class=\"wp-block-ugb-container ugb-container ugb-9406a1f ugb-container--v2 ugb-container--design-plain ugb-main-block\"><style>@media screen and (min-width:768px){.ugb-9406a1f > .ugb-inner-block > .ugb-block-content > *{padding-bottom:0px !important}}<\/style><div class=\"ugb-inner-block\"><div class=\"ugb-block-content\"><div class=\"ugb-container__wrapper ugb-9406a1f-wrapper\"><div class=\"ugb-container__side\"><div class=\"ugb-container__content-wrapper ugb-9406a1f-content-wrapper\"><div\n\tclass=\"paragraph-widget paragraph-widget--text-html\">\n\t<div class=\"text-content\">\n\t\t<h4>This unusual and ideologically motivated map was created by Orlando Ferguson of Hot Springs, South Dakota, in 1893. The map presents a square, flat Earth model with a circular central basin, accompanied by biblical quotations and arguments opposing the scientific consensus on a spherical Earth. Ferguson&#8217;s design was part of a fringe flat Earth movement in the late 19th century that blended religious literalism with pseudoscientific geography. The map includes explanatory texts, scripture references, and illustrations of angels, aiming to disprove &#8220;the globe theory.&#8221;<\/h4>\n\n\t<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div><\/div><\/div><\/div><\/div><\/div>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image aligncenter size-full is-resized\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"525\" height=\"362\" src=\"https:\/\/www.agron.iastate.edu\/glsi\/files\/2025\/05\/World-1893-Square-earth-map.jpg\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-12839\" style=\"width:450px\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.agron.iastate.edu\/glsi\/files\/2025\/05\/World-1893-Square-earth-map.jpg 525w, https:\/\/www.agron.iastate.edu\/glsi\/files\/2025\/05\/World-1893-Square-earth-map-300x207.jpg 300w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 525px) 100vw, 525px\" \/><\/figure>\n\n\n<div\n\tclass=\"paragraph-widget paragraph-widget--text-html\">\n\t<div class=\"text-content\">\n\t\t<p>Right-click image file to save.<\/p>\n<h4>Source:<\/h4>\n<p>Ferguson, Orlando. <em data-start=\"779\" data-end=\"819\">Map of the Square and Stationary Earth<\/em>. Self-published, Hot Springs, South Dakota, 1893.<\/p>\n<h4>Resolution:<\/h4>\n<p>Lithographic print on paper. Illustration-based rather than measured cartography; not intended for geographic accuracy but ideological persuasion.<\/p>\n<h4>Suggested Use:<\/h4>\n<p>Best used as a historical artifact in the study of pseudoscience, American religious geography, or the cultural resistance to scientific ideas in the late 1800s. Valuable in exhibitions on critical thinking, cartographic mythologies, or fringe belief systems.<\/p>\n<h4>References<\/h4>\n<p>Garwood, Christine. 2007. <em data-start=\"1363\" data-end=\"1408\">Flat Earth: The History of an Infamous Idea<\/em>. Macmillan.<br data-start=\"1420\" data-end=\"1423\">Library of Congress. <em data-start=\"1444\" data-end=\"1484\">Map of the Square and Stationary Earth<\/em>. <a class=\"cursor-pointer\" target=\"_new\" rel=\"noopener\" data-start=\"1486\" data-end=\"1521\">https:\/\/www.loc.gov\/item\/2003627009<\/a><br data-start=\"1521\" data-end=\"1524\">Ferguson, O. 1893. <em data-start=\"1543\" data-end=\"1576\">Square and Stationary Earth Map<\/em>, Hot Springs, SD.<\/p>\n\n\t<\/div>\n<\/div>\n\n\n<div class=\"paragraph-widget paragraph-widget--text-html\"><div class=\"text-content\">\n<p><\/p>\n<\/div><\/div>","protected":false},"featured_media":12839,"parent":0,"template":"","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"inline_featured_image":false,"ngg_post_thumbnail":0},"categories":[396,1],"tags":[],"location":[401],"surface-characteristic":[],"class_list":["post-13005","map","type-map","status-publish","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-historical-world","category-uncategorized","location-usa"],"acf":[],"featured_image_urls_v2":{"full":["https:\/\/www.agron.iastate.edu\/glsi\/files\/2025\/05\/World-1893-Square-earth-map.jpg",525,362,false],"thumbnail":["https:\/\/www.agron.iastate.edu\/glsi\/files\/2025\/05\/World-1893-Square-earth-map-150x150.jpg",150,150,true],"medium":["https:\/\/www.agron.iastate.edu\/glsi\/files\/2025\/05\/World-1893-Square-earth-map-300x207.jpg",300,207,true],"medium_large":["https:\/\/www.agron.iastate.edu\/glsi\/files\/2025\/05\/World-1893-Square-earth-map.jpg",525,362,false],"large":["https:\/\/www.agron.iastate.edu\/glsi\/files\/2025\/05\/World-1893-Square-earth-map.jpg",525,362,false],"1536x1536":["https:\/\/www.agron.iastate.edu\/glsi\/files\/2025\/05\/World-1893-Square-earth-map.jpg",525,362,false],"2048x2048":["https:\/\/www.agron.iastate.edu\/glsi\/files\/2025\/05\/World-1893-Square-earth-map.jpg",525,362,false]},"post_excerpt_stackable_v2":"<p>This unusual and ideologically motivated map was created by Orlando Ferguson of Hot Springs, South Dakota, in 1893. The map presents a square, flat Earth model with a circular central basin, accompanied by biblical quotations and arguments opposing the scientific consensus on a spherical Earth. Ferguson&#8217;s design was part of a fringe flat Earth movement in the late 19th century that blended religious literalism with pseudoscientific geography. The map includes explanatory texts, scripture references, and illustrations of angels, aiming to disprove &#8220;the globe theory.&#8221; Right-click image file to save. Source: Ferguson, Orlando. Map of the Square and Stationary Earth. Self-published,&hellip;<\/p>\n","category_list_v2":"<a href=\"https:\/\/www.agron.iastate.edu\/glsi\/category\/historical-world\/\" rel=\"category tag\">Historical World<\/a>, <a href=\"https:\/\/www.agron.iastate.edu\/glsi\/category\/uncategorized\/\" rel=\"category tag\">Uncategorized<\/a>","author_info_v2":{"name":"","url":""},"comments_num_v2":"0 comments","yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v27.6 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/product\/yoast-seo-wordpress\/ -->\n<title>Map of the Square and Stationary Earth (1893) - Geospatial Laboratory for Soil Informatics<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.agron.iastate.edu\/glsi\/map\/map-of-the-square-and-stationary-earth-1893\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Map of the Square and Stationary Earth (1893) - 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