Any cartographers? What's "Height of Land"?

[John Rose]

My fave cafe has a 1950 map of Canada hanging in the bathroom, complete with ads in the corners promoting Neilson's chocolate bars.

In several places, it has dotted lines labeled "Height of Land".
I have no idea what that means. It is not a topographic line.

height of land_0481.JPG (1.07 MiB) Viewed 3954 times

(more pix to follow)

[John Rose]

This one runs from north of Lake Athabasca to Naujaat (formerly Repulse Bay), which is at sea level.

height of land_0480.JPG (1.01 MiB) Viewed 3955 times

[John Rose]

Here's another line that is not connected, yet it also runs from north of Lake Athabasca (elevation 213 m), meanders around through Saskatchewan, and ends up in the vicinity of Edmonton, Alberta (elevation 645 m).
.

height of land_0483.JPG (949.38 KiB) Viewed 3954 times

.
These lines sometimes pass across rivers and lakes, so they are definitely not contour lines, nor do they mark the border of watershed areas (as along mountain ridges).
There are others near the east coast, and a few in British Columbia
Anybody have any ideas what they signify?

[ShadowsDad]

Here's Height of Land in Maine and it's aptly named. No it doesn't help you at all.

https://www.tripsavvy.com/top-maine-pho ... ey-4064234

There's one of those lines seen on this map below, but it's unmarked.

https://www.google.com/maps/place/Heigh ... 70.7105827

[John Rose]

There's one of those lines seen on this map below, but it's unmarked.

https://www.google.com/maps/place/Heigh ... 70.7105827

Zoom in a bit and "Appalachian Trail" appears.

[drmoss_ca]

Does this help?

https://thecanadianencyclopedia.ca/en/a ... ht-of-land

[ShadowsDad]

There's one of those lines seen on this map below, but it's unmarked.

https://www.google.com/maps/place/Heigh ... 70.7105827

Zoom in a bit and "Appalachian Trail" appears.

That makes sense. I knew it was near there but didn't look far enough.

[John Rose]

Does this help?

https://thecanadianencyclopedia.ca/en/a ... ht-of-land

Height of land, a region of high ground that may act as a watershed. Heights of land were important in the historic fur trade for their influence on the determination of routes and portages, and they have affected many transportation routes since then. Heights of land were important to native people in demarcating territoriality, as they were later to European colonists. A political boundary, like the boundary between Labrador and Québec, may correspond to a height of land.

I dare say that's it.
They must mean "height" more as an object, rather than a quality, and "land" describes what kind of height it is.
Similar to "a pile of snow", rather than "the depth of the snow".

[brothers]

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=W0i6BmwPN1A