Alabama - To date about 95 percent of Alabama has been mapped in cooperation with the U.S. Geological Survey and the Geological Survey of Alabama. These topographic quadrangle maps show selected man-made and natural features as well as the shape and elevation of features. Features include state, county, and municipal boundary lines; townships, ranges, roads, railroads, and buildings; and mountains, valleys, streams, and rivers. The earliest survey maps for Alabama are dated from 1901.
The Alabama Highway Department has prepared a series of county road maps. These maps contain more detailed information about man-made features than the geological survey maps. In addition to roads and boundaries, these maps locate rural communities, churches, and cemeteries. The maps are available for a nominal fee from the Alabama Highway Department, Bureau of Planning and Programming, Montgomery, Alabama 36130.
Another important series of maps for incorporated municipalities is the Sanborn Fire Insurance maps. These maps, dating from 1884 to 1950, include 110 Alabama communities. The maps indicate street names, property boundaries, building use, and in some cases property owners. Originals are available in the Library of Congress and in the University of Alabama Library (see Archives, Libraries, and Societies). They were microfilmed (twelve reels) in 1982 by Chadwyck-Healy of Alexandria, Virginia.
Sara Elizabeth Mason's bibliography, A List of Nineteenth Century Maps of the State of Alabama (Birmingham, Ala.: Birmingham Public Library, 1973), is very helpful in identifying and locating early Alabama maps. The list includes the holdings of the library of the Alabama Department of Archives and History, Auburn University in Auburn, the University of Alabama, Samford University, Mobile Public Library, and Birmingham Public Library . Descriptive annotations as well as detailed physical descriptions add to the usefulness of the list.
The Rucker Agee Map Collection, a privately acquired donation found at the Birmingham Public Library, is an incomparable collection of maps documenting the cartographic history of the southeast and in particular Alabama.
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Alaska - The United States Geological Survey publishes a catalog of topographical maps which cover the entire state of Alaska. Ask for the publications entitled “Alaska Catalog of Topographical and other Published Maps,” and “Alaska Index to Topographic and Map Coverage.” The catalog lists the over-the-counter dealers of U.S. Geological maps in Alaska (see Introduction). Residents of Alaska may order Alaska maps from the Alaska Distribution Section, U.S. Geological Survey, New Federal Building, Box 12, 101 Twelfth Avenue, Fairbanks, AK 99701.
Many libraries maintain reference files of the published maps of the U.S. Geological Survey. In Alaska, maps are deposited in the libraries of the Alaska Division of Geological and Geophysical Surveys in Anchorage, Alaska Division of Geological and Geophysical Surveys at College, the University of Alaska at Fairbanks; the Alaska Department of Fish and Game and the Alaska Division of Geological and Geophysical Surveys, both in Juneau; the Alaska Division of Geological and Geophysical Surveys and the public library in Ketchikan; and the Matanuska-Susitna Community College in Palmer.
The National Archives/Alaska Region has a large collection of Alaskan maps indexed in the “Guide to Cartographic Records in the National Archives” (Special List #13). They include railroad maps, federal lands, various historical maps, mining areas, judicial district maps, mineral claims, steamship routes, early Eskimo and Russian settlements, and topographical maps. One map of special interest in conducting native research is an 1875 map showing the distribution of native tribes in Alaska and the adjoining territories. The Massachusetts Historical Society in Boston has an unusual collection of Alaska historical maps dating from 1865 to 1888 that should not be overlooked.
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Arizona - All of the Sanborn maps of Arizona are on microfilm and are not available for interlibrary loan. They can be photocopied for a small fee from the Arizona State Archives. County and city maps in various sizes may be purchased from the Arizona Department of Transportation, Highways Division, 206 South Seventeenth Avenue, Phoenix, Arizona 85007. First order the general Highway Map Brochure for the latest listings offered.
Map collections are also found at Arizona State University, Tempe, Arizona 85287, and the University of Arizona at Tucson, Arizona 85721. The Arizona Historical Society, 949 East Second Street, Tucson, Arizona 85719 lists several thousand maps from the Spanish era to the present.
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Arkansas - The Arkansas State Highway Commission, in cooperation with the U.S. Department of Agriculture, prepared a complete set of Arkansas county maps entitled General Highway and Transportation Maps of Counties of Arkansas. These detailed maps show such landmarks as roads, cemeteries, towns, railroads, watercourses, dwellings, farms, churches, schools, businesses, factory or industrial plants, and sawmills for each county in the state. Copies of this softbound compilation, no longer available for purchase, are available for research at the Arkansas History Commission, which also houses a fine collection of maps pertaining to Arkansas.
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California - Warren A. Beck's Historical Atlas of California (Oklahoma Press, 1974), available in many libraries, provides a basic map reference at different points in California's history. Other useful references in maps and guides to California place-names and published atlases are the following:
Durrenberger, Robert W. Pattern on the Land: Geographical, Historical, and Political Maps of California. Palo Alto, Calif.: National Press Books, 1965.
Gudde, Irwin G. California Place Names: The Origin and Etymology of Current Geographical Names. 3d ed. Berkeley, Calif.: University of California Press, 1969.
Gudde, Irwin G. California Gold Camps: A Geographical and Historical Dictionary of Camps, Towns, and Localities Where Gold was Found and Mined … (Berkeley, Calif.: University of California Press, 1975).
Sanborn maps are available for California (see Introduction). Most libraries in California have both political and geographic maps for the state. Particularly noteworthy is the collection at the Map Center, 2440 Bancroft Way, Berkeley, California 94704.
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Colorado - ?
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Connecticut - ?
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Delaware - ?
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District of Columbia - ?
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Florida - ?
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Georgia - Early
Georgia maps are crucial for tracing colonial families. The Georgia Department of Archives and History has maps of Georgia
for sale showing the land lottery and the militia districts.
The largest collection of historical Georgia maps includes
some 30,000 items, with many county maps and large, detailed
state maps. The Georgia Surveyor General Department, Floor 2V
of the Georgia Department of Archives and History , has the collection
and will make copies for a fee. Modern maps of Georgia counties
and some cities can be ordered for a fee from Map Room, Georgia
Department of Transportation, 2 Capitol Square, Atlanta, Georgia
30334
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Hawaii - ?
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Idaho - ?
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Illinois - County atlases and plat books are at the Illinois State Historical Library. They cover a period of ca. 1870 to 1930 and give details of each township and indicate ownership. Plat books may not be photocopied or loaned. Excellent map collections can also be found at Illinois State Library, Galesburg Public Library, Chicago Historical Society and the map library of the University of Illinois, Champaign-Urbana.
Illinois highway maps are available free through either of the following offices: Illinois Secretary of State, Communications Department, Springfield, Illinois 62756; or Department of Commerce and Community Affairs, 620 East Adams, Springfield, Illinois 62701.
The earliest Sanborn map for Illinois in this collection is 1884. Suggested references are: Adams, James N. Illinois Place Names. Springfield, Ill.: Illinois State Historical Society, 1968. Addendum by Lowell M. Volkel. Springfield, Ill.: Illinois State Historical Library, 1989. Mitchell, S. Augustus. County and Township Map of the State of Illinois. N.p., 1979. Newberry Library. Checklist of Printed Maps of the Middle West to 1900. Boston: G. K. Hall, 1980. The eleven volumes list all known pre-1900 plat maps and plat books for the state of Illinois.
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Indiana - County maps can be found in the surveyor's office of most courthouses and may sometimes be purchased or photocopied. They include historical county maps and contemporary county, township, and city maps.
Maps of Indiana Counties in 1876, a reprint of the 1876 Illustrated Historical Atlas of the State of Indiana has been published by the Indiana Historical Society.
The earliest Sanborn Fire Insurance Map available for the state of Indiana is 1883. The Indiana State Library has a few Sanborn Fire Insurance Maps on microfilm; the Indiana University Geography and Map Library in Bloomington, however, has an almost complete collection of these maps. Atlas and plat maps for each county and township dating 1875 to present are at the Indiana State Library.
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Iowa - ?
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Kansas - ?
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Kentucky - One of the earliest known maps printed of Kentucky is John Filson's, dated 1784.
Helpful in locating early land grants is Luke Munsell's map printed in 1819 entitled “Map of the State of Kentucky together with parts of Indiana and Indian Territories.” A copy of this map can be obtained from the Library of Congress, Photoduplication Service, Washington, D.C. 20540.
The Kentucky Department for Libraries and Archives houses a collection of Kentucky maps for the period 1784–1818, including agency-sponsored late nineteenth and early twentieth century maps, but this collection is largely unprocessed. Maps for the state are also available at the Kentucky Historical Society, University of Kentucky Library, and the Filson Club Library. These collections include state, county, and city maps. Cadastral maps show land owners, drawn from official registers, used in conjunction with the appropriation of taxes, which list quantity, value, and ownership of real estate.
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Louisiana - Most of the larger libraries (public and university) have excellent map collections. Superb maps can be found in the many historic and archive collections throughout the state — for example, the Historic New Orleans Collection in that city's French quarter includes the Bouligny Family Papers and the d'Auberville-Bouligny Family Papers, which document life during both the French and Spanish colonial regimes in Louisiana and have an extensive cartographic collection numbering more than 400 items.
Maps created during Louisiana's changing regimes, by Spanish, French, and American sovereignty give information beyond that obtained from documents and books: the Pierre Clement de Laussat Papers and the Claude Perrin Victor Papers are good examples. Maps of the antebellum era reveal the settlement of population and the growth of transportation systems throughout the state. These also are a part of the Historic New Orleans Collection, one of many repositories in Louisiana.
The State Land Office located in the State Land and Natural Resources Building in Baton Rouge has all of the original and official field notes, survey plats, and maps made by early U.S. surveyors in Louisiana. Plat maps (showing ownership) can also be found in each parish, in the clerk of courts office located in the parish courthouse.
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Maine - ?
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Maryland - ?
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Massachusetts - ?
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Michigan - ?
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Minnesota - ?
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Mississippi - Historical maps found at the Mississippi Department of Archives and History can be accessed through the Chronological Listing arranged by date and situation of the map. Included in this list are numerous maps dating from 1500 to 1984. This selection contains all accessioned maps, including some produced by governmental agencies such as the U.S. Geological Survey and the Mississippi State Highway Department. Sanborn Fire Insurance Maps help identify location of structures.
County highway maps, produced by the Mississippi State Highway Department, Map Sales, P.O. Box 1850, Jackson, Mississippi, 39215-1850, are available for a nominal fee. These maps are useful when trying to locate cemeteries in the state.
Information in respect to state and federal legislation of land is uncovered in the Mississippi Historical Records Survey, State and County Boundaries of Mississippi (Jackson, Miss.: Historical Records Survey, 1942). This publication presents, in summary form, all the laws affecting the boundaries of the state of Mississippi, the counties in the state, and the judicial districts that were changed either by law, treaty, or proclamation.
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Missouri - One of the best publications for Missouri maps is Milton D. Rafferty, Historical Atlas of Missouri (Norman, Okla.: University of Oklahoma Press, 1981). Detailed county maps showing cemeteries, houses, churches, schools, and all county roads are available from the Missouri State Highway Department, Division of Planning, Jefferson City, Missouri 65101. The researcher should ask for “General Highway Map of _____ County.” The cost is minimal.
Other maps which will be helpful to the Missouri researcher are:
Campbell, R. A. Gazetteer of Missouri. St. Louis, Mo.: R.A. Campbell, 1874.
Ramsey, Robert L. Our Storehouse of Missouri Place Names. 1952. Reprinted. Columbia, Mo.: University of Missouri Press, 1973.
Selby, Paul O. “A Bibliography of Missouri County Histories and Atlases. ” 2d Edition. Kirksville, Mo.: Bulletin of the Northeast Missouri State Teachers College. Vol. 66, No. 12 (1966.)
Wetmore, Alphonso. Gazetteer of the State of Missouri. St. Louis, Mo.: C. Keemle, 1837.
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Montana - ?
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Nebraska - ?
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Nevada - ?
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New Hampshire - ?
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New Jersey - ?
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New Mexico - ?
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New York - The first place to obtain a map is in each county, usually in the county treasurer's office for a dollar or two. Most maps are large enough to show all county roads, and a further benefit is that most show the towns in different colors, making them easily distinguishable. Many more maps can be found at the courthouse in the county clerk's or tax offices. They can be useful for locating a specific piece of property; but the further back in time, the fewer maps will be available. A map is sometimes included with a recorded deed. More detailed maps are available for cities, villages, and towns, and a good place to look for these would be local libraries. U. S. topographical maps are useful for locating cemeteries. Excellent map collections are at the New York Public Library, the New York State Archives, and the New-York Historical Society.
Numerous county maps are found in county histories and county atlases. For a list of these, see Albert Hazen Wright, A Check List of New York State County Maps Published 1779–1945 (Ithaca, N. Y.: Cornell University, 1965).
On a larger scale, David H. Burr's An Atlas of the State of New York (New York, N.Y.: David H. Burr, 1829) and Joseph R. Bien's Atlas of the State of New York (New York, N.Y.: J. Bien & Co., 1895) are useful; the latter work includes some original land patents. For patents, 1624–1800, and a series of maps showing county formations and migration routes, consult the excellent Richards Atlas of New York State, 2d ed., edited by Robert J. Rayback (Phoenix, N.Y.: Frank E. Richards, 1965). A state map showing all counties and towns can be obtained from the New York State Department of Environmental Conservation.
David Kendall Martin, “The Districts of Albany County, New York, 1772–1784,” The NYG&B Newsletter 1 (1990): 9, 12–13, while covering only one section of the province, includes maps that help show that county's divisions prior to the creation of towns in 1788.
A “Map of the Meetings constituting New-York Yearly Meeting of Friends,” 1821, by Dr. Shadrach Ricketson, is found facing page 263 in volume 45 of The New York Genealogical and Biographical Record (1914).
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North Carolina - Excellent maps, atlases, and gazetteers for North Carolina are
readily available. The best gazetteer available for North Carolina
is William Stevens Powell, The North Carolina Gazetteer : A Dictionary
of Tar Heel Places (Chapel Hill, N.C.: University of North Carolina
Press, 1968). The Gazetteer includes historical definitions,
derivations of place-names, and exact locations. It is cross-indexed
well and gives references for the first use of place-names.
An important historical publication is Richard Edwards, ed., Statistical gazetteer of the states of Virginia and North Carolina (Richmond, Va.: Published for the Proprietor, 1856).
There are several excellent atlases and map guides available for North Carolina. James W. Clay, Douglas M. Orr, Jr., and Alfred W. Stuart, eds., North Carolina atlas: Portrait of a changing southern state . (Chapel Hill, N.C.: University of North Carolina Press, 1975), is perhaps the best atlas available. Fifteen North Carolina maps are included in William P. Cummings, North Carolina in Maps , (Raleigh, N.C.: State Department of Archives and History, 1966). See also Garland P. Stout, Historical Research Maps: North Carolina Counties, 5 vols. (Greensboro, N.C.: Garland P. Stout, 1973).
The North Carolina Department of Archives and History has revised David Leroy Corbitt, The Formation of the North Carolina Counties 1663 to 1943 (1950; 2d printing, Raleigh, N.C.: State Department of Archives and History, 1969). This guide is essential for determining the historical boundaries of North Carolina's counties.
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North Dakota - ?
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Ohio - The earliest Sanborn Map for Ohio is an 1875 map for Zanesville, held by the Ohio Historical Society. Consult the Newberry Library Checklist of Printed Maps of the Middle West to 1800 (2 vols. Boston, Mass.: G. K. Hall, 1980), although this is not an inclusive listing for maps in Ohio. It does not, for example include those held by the Western Reserve Historical Society. Other excellent sources include:
Brown, Lloyd A. Early Maps of the Ohio Valley: A Selection of Maps, Plans and Views Made by Indians and Colonials From 1673–1783. Pittsburgh, Pa.: University of Pittsburgh Press, 1959.
Kilbourn, John. The Ohio Gazetteer, Or, Topographical Dictionary Containing A Description of the Several Counties, Towns, Etc. Columbus, Ohio: J. Kilbourn, 1826.
Smith, Thomas H. The Mapping of Ohio. Kent, Ohio: Kent State University Press, 1977.
Walling, Henry F. Atlas of the State of Ohio. 1867. Reprint. Knightstown, Ind.: Bookmark, 1983. Delineates townships, railroads, roads, and geographical features as of 1868.
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Oklahoma - ?
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Oregon - ?
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Pennsylvania - County road maps are available in most if not all courthouses. Older maps are published in county histories, county atlases, and in manuscript collections such as at the Historical Society of Pennsylvania, the state library, and the state archives. Useful city maps can sometimes be found in city directories. An interesting map showing the development of the commonwealth's counties is available for a nominal fee from the land records office (see Land Records). See also Henry F. Walling and O. W. Gray, 1872 Historical Topographical Atlas of the State of Pennsylvania (1872; reprint, Knightstown, Ind.: Bookmark, 1977), which has business directories and a place-name index.
Available at the state archives (with copies at the state library and the respective county recorder of deeds) are warrantee maps for twenty-four counties. Those for Fayette, Greene, and Washington were also published and indexed in volume 3 of The Horn Papers by W. F. Horn (New York, N.Y.: Hagstrom Co., 1945), but the preceding two volumes of text are mostly fiction (see William & Mary Quarterly, series three, 4 [1947]: 409–451).
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Rhode Island - ?
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South Carolina - ?
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South Dakota - ?
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Tennessee - The McClung Collection at the East Tennessee Historical Center includes a set of maps for the state dating from 1777. This series depicts the development of east Tennessee over twenty years of county organization and jurisdictional changes
The Tennessee State Library and Archives holdings include historical and current maps, including the U. S. Geological Survey topographical maps. It maintains maps of some Mountain District grants and Ocoee District plat books.
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Texas - The General Land Office houses original plat maps for the state. The Texas State Library, archives division, maintains an excellent collection of Texas maps. Original, photocopies, and compiled maps include general state, county survey, road and highway, United States Geological Survey, coastal and nautical, street, town plats, and Birdseye maps with card index to the collection, arranged by date or location. James M. Day's Maps of Texas, 1527-1900: The Map Collection of the Texas State Archives. (Austin: Pemberton Press, 1964) describes maps in the collection acquired prior to 1965.
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Utah - ?
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Vermont - ?
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Virginia - The cartographic history of Virginia begins in the early sixteenth century, and maps, atlases, and gazetteers of the area have been produced ever since. Eugene Michael Sanchez-Saavedra, A Description of the Country: Virginia's Cartographers and Their Maps, 1607–1881 (Richmond, Va.: Virginia State Library, 1975) offers a brief history of Virginia's cartographic trends and early maps. James W. Sames III, comp., Index of Kentucky and Virginia Maps 1562 to 1900 (Frankfort, Ky.: Kentucky Historical Society, 1976), indexes the maps on file at The Library of Virginia and the Virginia Historical Society.
The map collection of The Library of Virginia is described in Earl Gregg Swem, comp. Maps Relating to Virginia in the Virginia State Library and other Departments of the Commonwealth... (Reprint, Richmond, Va.: Virginia State Library, 1989). This volume also cites maps in other repositories.
The changing boundaries of Virginia's counties are illustrated in Michael F. Doran, Atlas of County Boundary Changes in Virginia, 1634–1895 (Athens, Ga.: Iberian Publishing Co., 1987). This atlas is a must for Virginia research. See also John S. Hale, A Historical Atlas of Colonial Virginia (Staunton, Va.: Old Dominion Publication, 1978).
Maps showing watercourses are necessary for locating land grants and property described in deeds. See County Road Map Atlas: Commonwealth of Virginia (Richmond, Va.: Department of Transportation, 1987), which can be ordered by individual county, free of charge, from the Department of Transportation, 1401 East Broad Street, Richmond, Virginia 23219. Detailed topographical maps of Virginia are published in Virginia Atlas & Gazetteer (Freeport, Maine: DeLorme Mapping Company, 1989).
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Washington - ?
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West Virginia - ?
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Wisconsin - ?
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Wyoming - ?
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