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For as long as I can remember, I have always loved maps. Even from a fairly young age, I understood that a dot on a map represented something out in the world; a city, a place that I could travel to and explore. I would consult maps whenever the family planned a vacation. I wanted to see what roads we’d travel, and what cities we might go through. Even for lesser journeys, I might check a map. Our family would go to Cedar Point in Sandusky, Ohio every few summers, and especially as the park added more and more rides, I would check the map to find the quickest way to get to the next roller coaster. Even at the mall, I would consult a “You Are Here” map to see how to get to the new shop that just opened.
In my family, I typically took the task of the navigator on long trips. I would keep the road atlas with me, and would look at it from time to time, and let whichever parent was driving (usually my Dad), know when the next turn was coming up.
In a genealogical journey, you don’t necessarily have a map to follow. You might get some data that might point you in the right direction, but the final destination can be ever elusive. However, maps do have their use in genealogy. In particular, I’ve found that historic maps can be quite helpful in finding out more about the places my ancestors lived. Today, I’m going to share with you a few resources that I’ve found helpful in my own research. Clicking on any map will take you to its source.
Old Maps Online
From 1000 AD until the present, there are maps available from several sources that can be viewed online. You can use a map feature to find what you’re looking for, or you can type in a place to search for it directly. The maps show everything from topography and resources, to city streets.
David Rumsey Map Collection
While the maps of the David Rumsey collection can be viewed through the previous link, I wanted to make special mention of this group of maps. Many of these maps are rare maps of North America (the map above is part of the collection). The interface is virtually identical to that of Old Maps Online, however, I prefer the darker background of the Rumsey site for viewing.
Atlas of Historical County Boundaries
Borders have a way of changing through the years. As territories became states and states sometimes spawned new states or disputed ownership of land with other states, the lines that designated where one place ended and the other began evolved. Even within states, counties grew, shrank, were created, or disappeared.
You can view these changes on this atlas. Choose the state you are interested in, type in a date, and you can view the borders at that time. You have the option of also comparing them with the current county borders. I have found it useful when trying to track down relatives when they haven’t moved, but the borders did.
Data Visualization: Journalism’s Voyage West
Stanford University compiled data from the Library of Congress‘ “Chronicling America” project to create this unique map. Over 140,000 newspapers in over 3 centuries are represented. What I like about this map is it helps me to determine what newspapers were in print for a particular place at any given point in time. There are also links that will show where archives of these papers can be found in libraries across the country. Best of all, several papers are available digitally and be searched and viewed for free.
As you can see, maps can help in our research of our ancestors. They may give us a better view of the land as it was when they lived. Maps can show the surroundings and give us a better understanding of how things looked before modern streets, roads, and buildings became part of the landscape. Maps can show the changes in boundaries between counties and states, and perhaps help us track down a relative. Maps can even be used to give us a visual representation of data that might help us discover records unlocking key clues in our genealogical journeys. I hope that some of these resources might help you as much as they have helped me. If you have other map resources that you have found, please share them.