10 Best Websites With Maps for Genealogy Research
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In family history research, it is sometimes all about location, location, location!
Finding maps online for genealogy research can be a daunting task because there are so many possible places to look.
To make this task easier, the following is a curated list of the ten best map websites to help with your family history research.
Why Use Maps for Genealogy?
Maps not only provide clues as to where your ancestors lived, but they can also help you track down important documents such as birth, marriage, and death records, probate records, land and property records, and more.
Many of these documents were – and still are – held in the counties where they were created, so knowing where an ancestor lived, worked, went to school, spent his social time, etc., is vital to successful research.
There are many types of maps that can help with your family history research.
- Atlases and Historical Atlases
- State and County Boundary Maps
- Census Enumeration Maps
- Fire Insurance Maps
- Land and Plat Maps
- Cadastral Maps
- Military Maps
- Railroad Maps
- Topographic Maps
- Township Maps
One of my favorite maps is the topographic or “topo” map. While not specifically for genealogy, topo maps can help you visualize an ancestor’s surrounding landscape and what their life may have been like in regard to transportation and mobility, business and occupation, and even the food supply.
Where to Find Maps for Genealogy Research
It may appear that your ancestors moved from county to county, but it’s possible that they stayed in the same place while the county boundaries moved around them.
This site provides data about the creation and subsequent changes in the size, shape, and location of every county in the fifty United States and the District of Columbia. It also includes non-county areas, unsuccessful authorizations for new counties, changes in county names and organization, and the temporary attachments of non-county areas and unorganized counties to fully functioning counties. Files can be downloaded to use in other geographic information systems (GIS) products.
The David Rumsey Map Collection was started over 30 years ago and now contains more than 150,000 maps. Focusing on rare 16th through 21st-century maps of North and South America, as well as Asia, Africa, Europe, Oceania, and the world, the collection includes atlases, wall maps, globes, school geographies, pocket maps, books of exploration, maritime charts, and a variety of cartographic materials including pocket, wall, children’s, and manuscript maps.
Digitization of the collection began in 1996, and there are now over 100,000 items online, with new additions being added regularly. A variety of tools for viewing, comparing, and analyzing maps are also available.
Fire insurance maps are an amazing source of detailed historic information about cities, towns, and urban areas. Several companies produced fire insurance maps, including the Dakin Publishing Co., G. M. Hopkins & Co., and the G. W. Baist Company, but the most well-known is the Sanborn Map Company. Fire insurance maps can be found scattered all over the internet.
Get a complete list of where to find fire insurance maps organized by state, as well as how to use them, in this post.
Explore the world with satellite imagery and 3D terrain of the entire globe and 3D buildings in hundreds of cities around the world. Use the Chrome browser to explore hundreds of 3D cities and create your own maps and stories (coming soon to more browsers).
Download Google Earth Pro for free for your desktop computer to get advanced features, such as the ability to import and export GIS data, and to go back in time with historical imagery. Google Earth is also available for your iPhone or Android mobile device.
This collection has over 1.6 million individual images. Track your ancestors to their homes; see the roads they traveled on, and the names of the neighbors they talked with. Multiple layers allow you to see an area change through time, and our Geocode feature allows you to compare historical and modern maps.
Historic Map Works’ collection includes United States Property Atlases, Antiquarian Maps, Nautical Charts, Birdseye Views, Special Collections (Celestial Maps, Portraits, and other historical images), Directories, and other text documents. In addition to their own atlas collection, they have incorporated scans of the antiquarian world map collection from the Osher Map Library and Smith Center for Cartographic Education located at the University of Southern Maine.
The Library of Congress’s incredible Digital Map Collection includes historic maps from the American Revolution era, the Louisiana Purchase, the Civil War, WWII, railroad maps, fire insurance maps, and so much more.
You can filter maps by date, location, and collection, but you may want to start by viewing the map collections listed by theme or with the Geography & Maps Division Finding Aids.
The Norman B. Leventhal Map & Education Center at the Boston Public Library was established as a public-private partnership between the Library and philanthropist Norman Leventhal.
The Digital Collection includes more than 10,000 digitized maps that are global in scope, dating from the 15th century to the present, with an emphasis on maps and atlases from the New England region, American Revolutionary War period, nautical charts, and world urban centers. Not to be missed is the section on georeferencing, where you can overlay historic maps on modern-day maps.
OldMapsOnline calls itself "the search engine for historical maps." The project was developed out of a love of history and heritage of old maps and began as a collaboration between Klokan Technologies GmbH, Switzerland, and The Great Britain Historical GIS Project, UK. The site has indexed over 400,000 maps, thanks to the archives and libraries that provided their online content.
For historical maps “on the go,” download their app for iPhone or Android to access over 250,000 maps from the 15th to the 20th century.
The Perry-Castañeda Library Map Collection consists of more than 250,000 maps covering all areas of the world. 70,000 map images from the collection are currently available online.
Historical maps also cover the world and include collections such as Army Map Service Topographic Map Series, the Public Schools Historical Atlas, World War I Detailed Battle Maps, and links to historical maps available on other websites.
This site is loaded with Google Maps-based mapping and search tools designed to make research easier by providing access to publicly available data through familiar, straightforward tools.
Popular map tools on this site include:
- "County Lines on Google Maps," which adds county boundary lines for all U.S. states, as well as Great Britain, Ireland, Australia, New Zealand, Canada, Mexico, and Switzerland;
- "Section Township Range on Google Maps," which displays an overlay of the Township Range Section Grid;
- "Historical U.S. Counties on Google Maps," which displays an overlay of historical county boundary lines that can be changed by decade.
- One of the newest features is the "Share Map" button which creates a link so you can share the map you created.
While not exactly a map website, this one is definitely worth a look if you’re interested in your ancestor’s locations.
A one-place study researches the residents of a particular place by gathering a full range of historical records, memorabilia, and stories that mention those individuals, and analyses them to gain insights into the social and economic workings of that place. Joining the Society is optional.
What to do When You Find a Map
There are a few things you can – and should – do if you find a map online that helps with your family history research:
- Bookmark the website where you found it.
- Download a copy to your computer. You never know when a website might go offline or lose access to a particular collection.
- Give the downloaded file a relevant name. For example, “1930-tennessee-fall-branch-topo-map.jpg” or “1884-iowa-sioux-city-sanborn-map.png.” You may even want to include surnames in the filename, but don’t let the name get too long. You can always add more information an the image’s metadata.
- Import the map into your genealogy management software. Be sure to include a source citation, or at minimum, a link back to where you found the map.
- Print a copy with the source citation and put it in the file or binder of the ancestor to which it pertains.
- Share the map with family members and cousin collaborators.
Additional Resources
- Using Maps in Genealogy by the U.S. Geological Survey
- Historical Boundaries of the United States
- Bureau of Land Management, General Land Office Records
- Cartographic and Architectural Records at the National Archives
- Google Earth for Genealogy, Part 1 and Part 2 by the New York Genealogical & Biographical Society
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Lots of great map collections here to explore. I’ve used several of them in my own research, but this is a great post because I think many people either don’t think of looking for old maps or else are unsure how to find them.
I love using maps to help see the movements of my ancestors and use the National Library of Scotland website for most of my research. Those fire insurance maps are something special though! Thanks for sharing.
It’s also important when downloading the map to get the terms of use information. Write that citation and note how it can be used in future blog posts or books, and how to get permission if you need it.