Where to Look for Historical Maps

Author:Harold Hunt • 5/03/12 • Categorized as Maps

The use of extracting data from old paper maps is growing in popularity as a method to understanding historical geography. David Ramsey popularized the method of georectifying historical maps and draping those maps over a DEM to create a 3D view. Pastmapper is a project that digitizes historical maps in order to recreate the state of cities over the course of one year intervals. Historical GIS is also used to compare changes in a geographic area over time by comparing data extracted from maps covering a range of years. With free applications like Harvard’s WorldMap Warp, uploading and georeferencing maps is easier than ever.

The challenge can come in finding maps specific to your area of research. Cities by nature are constantly evolving, and buildings and roads have changed tremendously over time. If your research requires mapping Baltimore from the 1860s, Denver from the 1890s, or even Houston from the1960s, you’re going to need a very specific type of map. Listed below are some pointers to some of the more popular places to finding historical maps.

City Libraries

The first place to look for a city map is the obvious low-tech destination: the library. Municipal libraries usually have a wide collection of civic maps, many modeled after the “Plan of City X” style used by cartographers a century ago. These maps are a great place to start and can be incredibly informative. However, many of them are not digitally available, making them difficult to use for more advanced mapping applications.

USGS Maps

Maps from the United States Geological Survey are incredibly helpful to researchers. Taken over the course of many decades and including aerial views and well as traditional street maps, the USGS are often your best option when covering a metropolitan area outside of its downtown core. The USGS recently started making available over 120 years of mapping history, with its Historical Topo Map program along with a whole range of mapping products.

David Ramsey Map Collection

The David Rumsey Map Collection contains over 150,000 maps with over 27,000 maps available online. The maps range in age dating back to the 1700s up to the 1950s. Maps can be viewed online and downloaded via the LUNA browser. The site offers a range of other search and viewing options including Google Earth, Second Life, and 2D and 3D mapping applications.

Historic Aerials

Accessible at the website historicaerials.com, this program takes data from a range of government sources – USGS included. Consequently, it is one of the most comprehensive out there. Since it functions like Google Maps it is also one of the easiest to search, and the ability to toggle between past and present-day views allows the researcher to zoom in on a very focused area. Be wary, however: this service usually does not offer the best quality.

Sanborn Maps

These maps were made by the Sanborn Fire Insurance companyaround the turn of the past century, and they cover large portions of America’s major cities from the time. These maps are incredibly unique in that they show a drawn “bird’s eye” view of every neighborhood, replete with streets and extensive building details. Finding access to these maps online can be challenging, if your local library has a subscription, the ProQuest Digital Sanborn Collection would be the best place to find these maps.

Library of Congress

The Library of Congress (LOC) has a page called Map Collections which provides access to those maps from the LOC Geography and Maps collection that are available online. The LOC also offers a guide to its Geography and Maps collection.

If your mapping takes you into a small-scale and historical field, hopefully these suggestions can be of use. While finding an historical map is certainly more difficult than locating a present-day one, there are many resources out there that can help further your quest.

Big Map Blog

This site hosts a large online collection of ultra-high-definition historical maps with more than 2,700 available. All maps are in the public domain, and are provided as a full-resolution download at no cost. Prints can also be ordered of maps.