New York Maps

United States   New York    Maps

The New York State Library, New York State Archives, New York Public Library, New-York Historical Society, and most university and public libraries in major cities have extensive map collections. The Family History Library has few original maps but has many on microfilm and microfiche.

General

 * An important set of maps at the Library of Congress is available at the Family History Library on microfiche. The Land Ownership Map Collection contains 109 maps for New York counties, showing the names of landowners and the location of their property They date from 1668–1899 but most are from the 1850s. They are listed in the Family History Library Catalog Locality Search under UNITED STATES - MAPS.


 * A description of each map is found in Richard W. Stephenson, Land Ownership Maps: A Checklist of Nineteenth Century United States County Maps in the Library of Congress (Washington, DC: Library of Congress, 1967) A digital version is available through the FHL catalog entry.


 * United States Census Bureau State and County Map. This map will allow you to zoom in on any state or county in the United States and read the names of all of the neighboring counties.

Street and Ward Maps
Street and ward maps are extremely helpful in doing research in city records. Successful census research often depends on finding maps that show ward boundaries, enumeration districts, or election districts.


 * A large collection of pre-1900 ward maps for every major American city, including Albany, Brooklyn, Buffalo, New York, and Rochester, is Ward Maps of United States Cities

City and County Maps
You can buy modern commercial maps of New York cities and counties from the following:


 * Hagstrom Map Company, Incorporated 46-35 54th Road Maspeth, NY 11278 Telephone: 718-784-0055


 * Jimapco Box 1137 Clifton Park, NY 12065 Telephone: 518-899-5091


 * Marshall Penn-York Company 538 Erie Boulevard West Syracuse, NY 13204 Telephone: 315-422-2162 Fax: 315-422-2181


 * A simple outline map of New York counties is provided by the University of Texas, or by digital-topo-maps.com, or by NY Gen Web.


 * You can order free maps of individual counties from local tourist bureaus and chambers of commerce. Most county highway departments sell county maps for a dollar or two. You can obtain a current price list with addresses called "Information on County Highway Maps" from:


 * Mapping Services Bureau New York State Department of Transportation Building 4, Room 105, State Office Building Campus 1220 Washington Avenue Albany, NY 12232 Telephone: 518-457-3555

County and Town Formation and Boundary Changes

 * For maps showing county and town formation in New York, see:


 * Thorndale, William and William Dollarhide. Map Guide to the U.S. Federal Censuses, 1790–1920. Baltimore, Maryland: Genealogical Publishing Company, 1987.

County Formations and Minor Civil Divisions of the State of New York. Series B, Number 4. Salt Lake City, Utah: The Genealogical Department of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, 1978.


 * For maps showing the county boundary changes in the New York City area, see:

Thorne, Kathryn Ford, compiler. New York Atlas of Historical County Boundaries. New York, New York: Simon &amp; Schuster, 1993. .) Maps show when and where each county changed boundaries from colonial times to 1990.

Atlases

 * Wright, Albert Hazen. A Check List of the County Atlases of New York. Ithaca, New York: A. H. Wright, 1943. This is study number 4 of New York Historical Source Studies.


 * Burr, David H. An Atlas of the State of New York. New York, NY: David H. Burr, 1829. Reprint, Provo, Utah: Brigham Young University, 1970.


 * Bien, Joseph R. Atlas of the State of New York. New York, New York: J. Bien and Company, 1895. This includes some of the original land patents.


 * New York State Atlas. Albany, New York: New York State Department of Transportation, 1983.


 * DeLorme Mapping Company, New York State Atlas &amp; Gazetteer. report, Maine: DeLorme Mapping, 1988.


 * DeLorme Mapping Co. Upstate New York Street Maps. Freeport, Maine: DeLorme Mapping, 1988. This is an atlas of upstate urban areas from Middletown north to Plattsburgh, and Albany west to Buffalo. It has more than 80 cities and towns in all.


 * A helpful atlas for New York City research is Hagstrom Map Co., Hagstrom New York City 5 Borough Atlas, 22 edition. Maspeth, New York: Hagstrom Map, 1987.

Patent Maps
Detailed patent maps may show where early settlers lived. An inventory of these is David Ellicott Evans Mix, Catalogue of Maps and Surveys in the Offices of the Secretary of State, State Engineer and Surveyor and Comptroller and the New York State Library Albany, New York: Charles van Benthuysen, 1859. The New York State Archives also has a finding aid that lists the location of specific patent maps.

Topographic Maps
To find 7.5-, 15-, and 30-minute topographic quadrangle maps for New York published between 1884 and 1972, use:

United States Geological Survey. Topographic Maps of the United States: Historical Reference File. Suitland, Maryland: National Archives and Records Service, 1978. The maps are arranged alphabetically by the name of the quadrangle:

To get the name of the quadrangle, use the Omni Gazetteer of the United States of America, mentioned in New York Gazetteers.
 * Adams-Buffalo
 * Buffalo-Cambridge
 * Cuyler-Grindstone
 * Grindstone-Ithaca
 * Kasoag-Monticello
 * Mt. Marcy-Owla Head
 * Oxford-Port Jarvis
 * Rochester-Roxbury
 * Stoney Creek-Yankee Lake

You can order topographic maps from:


 * Branch of Distribution U.S. Geological Survey 507 National Center Reston, VA 22092 Telephone: 703-648-6045


 * United States/Canadian Map Service P.O. Box 249 Neenah, WI 54957-0249 Telephone: 414-731-0101

Web Sites

 * Printable maps are available from the National Atlas of the United States


 * New York State Library


 * New York State Archives


 * New York Public Library


 * New York Historical Society


 * Historic Cities