Minnesota Maps

The Wilson Library of the University of Minnesota has the most complete collection of maps for the state. Their web address is:


 * Map Collections in the Wilson Library[Internet site] Minneapolis, Minnesota: University of Minnesota, 2000 [cited 27 January 2000]. Available at: www.lib.umn.edu/wilsonlib/maps.html.

The Minnesota Historical Society Library also has an extensive map collection, and the Family History Library has a few maps that can aid your research. Two atlases, An Illustrated Historical Atlas of the State of Minnesota and Bakeman’s A Comprehensive Index to A. T. Andreas’ Illustrated Historical Atlas of Minnesota—1874, are both cited in the "Biography" section of this outline.

A bibliography of available county atlases is in:


 * Treude, Mai. Windows to the Past: A Bibliography of Minnesota County Atlases. Minneapolis, Minnesota: University of Minnesota Press, 1980. (FHL book 977.6 E73t.) It indicates whether copies of individual atlases are at the Library of Congress or at archives or libraries in Minnesota.

A guide to the history of Minnesota’s counties and boundary changes has also been published:


 * Long, John H., ed. Historical Atlas and Chronology of County Boundaries 1788–1980. Volume 5: Minnesota, North Dakota, South Dakota. Boston, Massachusetts: G. K. Hall, 1984. (FHL book 973 E7hL v.5; fiche 6051430 [set of six].) Shows when and where each county changed boundaries.

The United States Research Outline (30972) describes additional sources containing maps of Minnesota. Maps are listed in the Locality Search of the Family History Library Catalog under:

MINNESOTA – MAPS

MINNESOTA, [COUNTY] – MAPS

MINNESOTA, [COUNTY], [TOWN] – MAPS

Printable maps are also available from the National Atlas of the United States -- http://nationalatlas.gov/printable.html