Internet sites with digital archives of historical maps

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Permalink Reply by Sue Jackson on July 27, 2009 at 10:36am

That is a great site! Thank you so much for sharing.

Permalink Reply by Randy C on July 28, 2009 at 7:48am

The 1895 Atlas
I discovered this site at the same time that I discovered genealogy, back then my knowledge of state geography wasn't that good, she even has broken down the maps by county. I used to go to here regularly, now I have a better idea where places are.

http://www.livgenmi.com/1895/

This atlas was originally printed and copyrighted in 1895 by the Rand McNally Corporation, called:

"The New 11 x 14 Atlas of the World"

Although it contained maps of the countries of the world and the individual states of the United States at that time, it only contained an index for the United States.

Permalink Reply by Tammy Mellard Wheeler on July 28, 2009 at 8:53am

Nice maps, thanks for sharing.

Permalink Reply by Tammy Mellard Wheeler on July 28, 2009 at 8:52am

Here are some maps I found in my research. I think 1 you may have to pay for.

http://ehistory.osu.edu/osu/maps/

http://www.glorecords.blm.gov/

http://nationalatlas.gov/natlas/Natlasstart.asp

http://www.topozone.com/viewmaps.asp

http://www.censusfinder.com/county-maps.htm

http://www.usgs.gov/pubprod/maps.html

http://www.mapbuilder.net/

http://monarch.tamu.edu/~maps2/

Permalink Reply by Brian DeGraaf on August 13, 2009 at 4:29pm

Family Tree Magazine: 10 Best Web Sites for Maps
"Trace your family's paths, find your ancestors' homes and explore the old country."

Permalink Reply by Liz Loveland on February 13, 2010 at 5:41pm

Thank you very much for passing on that site. I'm having fun belatedly exploring it.

Many antique map dealers also have online versions of their maps that are free to access, and some of them will make a CD-ROM version of an atlas for you (though the second part is definitely not free). As an example, a local dealer (http://www.wardmaps.com/) has a bunch of Sanborn fire insurance maps online as well as other maps with fairly similar levels of detail, the highest percentage being ones of this region (eastern New England USA, especially coastal towns in the southern half) but some of other cities.

Also try typing streets or towns that are very close to the one you're looking for into a search engine if you're looking for a map with that level of detail. To cite an example: Last year I was able to complete research into the history of a house by finding an organization focused on the history of a particular street whose web page had old maps that included the nearby streets. Doing a search on the street the house was actually on had not yielded the site, as this street wasn't mentioned in the text, only on the maps. I've had the same experience sometimes when searching for maps of tiny towns.

Permalink Reply by Tammy Mellard Wheeler on April 18, 2010 at 1:48pm

http://www.familyhistory101.com/maps.html

Permalink Reply by Brian DeGraaf on April 22, 2010 at 6:12pm

Michael shared a great site. This is the page to search the listings: http://oddens.geog.uu.nl/index.php

Permalink Reply by Juanita Hendrickson on August 10, 2010 at 6:14pm

This is terrific!! I do love maps but haven't entered that dimension to my research of Fam History. This group & these resources you all have shared are fantastic! Thanks Very Much, Juanita Hendrickson

Permalink Reply by Tammy Mellard Wheeler on November 23, 2010 at 9:49pm

http://www.geomapapp.org/