United States Maps

Maps are used to locate the places where your ancestors lived. They identify political boundaries, names of places, geographical features, cemeteries, churches, and migration routes. Historical maps are especially useful for finding communities that no longer exist.

Maps are available from the National Archives, the Library of Congress, county agencies, and other libraries and historical societies. The Family History Library has a small collection of loose maps of historical value, and a fine collection of printed historical atlases. These are listed in the Place Search of the Family History Library Catalog under:

UNITED STATES - MAPS [STATE] - MAPS [STATE], [COUNTY] - MAPS [STATE], [COUNTY], [TOWN] - MAPS.

The National Archives—Cartographic Branch (841 South Pickett Street, Alexandria, VA 22304) and the Geography and Map Division of the Library of Congress have significant collections of a variety of maps, including land ownership, railroad, and fire insurance maps. Several catalogs and inventories of these collections are listed in the Place Search of the Family History Library Catalog under UNITED STATES - MAPS - BIBLIOGRAPHY.

An excellent inventory of the map holdings of 3,000 libraries and historical societies is:

Cobb, David A., compiler. Guide to U.S. Map Resources. Chicago, Illinois: American Library Association, 1986. (FHL book 973 E74co.)

For further information about maps and how to obtain them, see:

Madower, Joel, editor. The Map Catalog. New York, New York: Vintage Books, 1986. (FHL book 973 E73ma.)

Plat Maps
The county or town offices that maintain land and property records often have plat books containing maps of property boundaries and land ownership within the county. Also see Land and Property section for information about the federal township plats.

Ward Maps of Major Cities
The Library of Congress has detailed ward maps of major cities. These show the census districts and political divisions of large cities. The Family History Library has:

Ward Maps of United States Cities: Microfilm Reproduction of 232 Maps Described in Ward Maps of United States Cities. Washington, D.C.: Library of Congress, [1975?]. (FHL film 1377700; fiche 6016554-782.)

A description of each map and a chart that shows which maps to use with each U.S. census is in:

Shelley, Michael H. Ward Maps of United States Cities: A Selective Checklist of Pre-1900 Maps in the Library of Congress. Washington, D.C.: Not published 1975. (FHL book 973 A1 no. 99; film 928120 item 16.)

Topographic Maps
The United States has been divided into sections called quadrangles by the United States Geological Survey (U.S. Department of Interior, Geological Survey, 1200 South Eads Street, Arlington, VA 22202). The USGS has produced highly detailed topographical maps showing physical and manmade features in each quadrangle. These maps are available at most university libraries. The Family History Library has:

United States. Geological Survey. Topographic Maps of the United States. Scale varies. Suitland, Maryland: National Archives and Records Service, 1976-. (FHL films 1433631-921.) These maps were originally published from 1884 to 1983. The maps are arranged by the name of the quadrangle within each state. States are not in alphabetical order. For an index see:

Moffat, Riley Moore. Map Index to Topographic Quadrangles of the United States, 1882-1940. Occasional paper: Western Association of Map Libraries, number 10. Santa Cruz, California: Western Association of Map Libraries, 1986. (FHL Ref book 973 E72m.)

Use a state map to find the quadrangle number. Then find the number in the state's map list to learn the name of the quadrangle.

You can purchase copies of topographical maps from:

U.S. Department of the Interior Geological Survey 507 National Center Reston, VA 20192 Telephone: 800-USA-MAPS (toll free) Telephone: 703-648-6045 (local) Internet: http://www.doi.gov/

Atlases
An atlas is a bound collection of maps. It often contains historical and geographical information for a county or state. Collections of maps and atlases are available at numerous libraries and historical societies. Many county atlases that show the names of landowners and are usually based on county plat maps (see the "Land and Property" section of this outline) have been published.

Public and university libraries have excellent national atlases, such as:

Rand McNally Commercial Atlas and Marketing Guide. New York, New York: Rand McNally, annual. (FHL Atlas Stand 973 E7rc.)

A basic atlas that shows state and county boundaries, county seats, all places of 1,000 population or more, and some places with fewer than 1,000, is:

The Original Cleartype Business Control Atlas, Annual. Maspeth, New York: American Map Corporation. (FHL book 970 E3b 1988.)

Historical Atlases
These atlases show the growth and development of the nation or a state, including boundaries, migration routes, settlement patterns, military campaigns, American Indian reservations, and other historical information. Excellent national historical atlases are:

Atlas of American History, Second Edition, revised. New York, New York: Charles Scribner's Sons, 1984. (FHL Ref 973 E7at; 1943 edition on film 1415259 item 9.)

The American Heritage Pictorial Atlas of United States History. New York, New York: American Heritage Publishing, 1966. (FHL book 973 E7ah.)

Meinig, D. W. The Shaping of America: A Geographical Perspective on 500 Years of History. Two Volumes. New Haven, Connecticut: Yale University Press, 1986. (FHL book 973 E3me; fiche 6125626-27.)

Locating Township and County Boundaries
Maps of county boundaries as they exist today and as they existed in each census year through 1920 are in:

Thorndale, William, and William Dollarhide. Map Guide to the U.S. Federal Censuses, 1790-1920. Baltimore, Maryland: Genealogical Publishing Company, 1987. (FHL book 973 X2th.) This source also includes helpful information about the availability of census records.

Maps of modern county boundaries are also in both The Handy Book for Genealogists and Ancestry's Red Book. These are available at most libraries and Family History Centers.

Maps and an index of townships and other present-day civil boundaries are in:

Andriot, Jay. Township Atlas of the United States. McLean, Virginia: Documents Index, 1991. (FHL book 973 E7an 1991.)

Detailed maps and legal histories of county formations and changes are found in:

Long, John H., editor. Historical Atlas and Chronology of County Boundaries, 1788-1980. Five Volumes. Boston, Massachusetts: G. K. Hall, 1984. (FHL book 973 E7hL; fiche 60514226-30.) The states included are Delaware, Illinois, Indiana, Iowa, Maryland, Michigan, Minnesota, Missouri, New Jersey, North Dakota, Ohio, Pennsylvania, South Dakota, and Wisconsin.

Long, John H., editor. [State] Atlas of Historical County Boundaries. New York, New York: Charles Scribner's Sons, 1996-. The Family History Library has this work, but each volume is cataloged separately. Published states include Alabama, Florida, Indiana, Kentucky, Missouri, New Hampshire, Vermont, New York, and Pennsylvania.

Also see the "Historical Geography" section of this outline for further help on tracing the histories of counties and their boundaries.

Land Ownership Maps
Government or commercial agencies have created numerous maps showing the names of land owners in an area. These are often called “cadastral” maps. They sometimes include other helpful details such as churches, cemeteries, and roads. An inventory of many of the land ownership maps is:

Library of Congress. Geography and Map Division. Land Ownership Maps: A Checklist of Nineteenth Century United States County Maps in the Library of Congress. Washington, D.C.: Library of Congress, 1967. (FHL book 973 A3Loc; fiche 6048262.) Some of these maps are found under:

Library of Congress. Geography and Map Division. Land Ownership Maps. Washington, D.C.: Library of Congress, 1983. (On 2,010 FHL fiche starting with 6079238.)

For more information about land ownership, see Land and Property.

Web Sites
http://www.infoplease.com/atlas/unitedstates.html

http://www.lib.utexas.edu/maps/united_states.html

http://nationalatlas.gov/printable.html