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Historical Maps & Atlases
A guide to key databases and web resources for historical maps, with a sample of historical atlases available in print.
Librarian
Photo credit: 1830 Map of the United States, Aline B. Carter Family Papers, MS 94, UTSA Libraries Special Collections. Used with permission. See the Finding Aid for a description of the contents of this manuscript collection. This map is not currently available in the digital collection. See it in person!
Historical Maps: Key Databases & Web Resources
- Sanborn Fire Insurance Maps - Library of CongressCollection of large-scale, building-level maps, depict the commercial, industrial and residential sections of some 12,000 cities and towns in the U.S., Canada and Mexico, 1867 - present. The Sanborn collection includes about 50,000 editions of fire insurance maps comprising an estimated 700,000 individual sheets. Also see Checklist of all print and electronic Sanborn Maps.
- Digital Sanborn Maps, 1867-1970 (ProQuest) This link opens in a new windowProvides access to over 660,000 full-image fire insurance maps for more than 12,000 American communities in all U.S. states. These large-scale maps contain detailed data such as the outline of each building; the size, shape, and function of structures; construction materials; heights; and the location of windows and doors. The maps also list street names, street and sidewalk widths, property boundaries, building use, and house and block numbers. Also shown are pipelines, railroads, wells, dumps, and heavy machinery. Sanborn maps are valuable historical tools for urban studies specialists, historians, architects, geographers, genealogists, planners, and environmentalists, among others.
- Texas Digital Sanborn Maps, 1867-1970 (ProQuest) This link opens in a new windowAccess to Texas Digital Sanborn Maps is now provided with Digital Sanborn Maps. Refer to that entry for a detailed description.
- HOLC Redlining Maps of San AntonioThe Home Owners’ Loan Corporation (HOLC) was established in 1933 as a federal government-sponsored program. San Antonio was one of the cities for which "residential security maps" were created. Red color coding on these maps often outlined neighborhoods in the older sections of cities, where homeowners and tenants had lower incomes, or in neighborhoods that were made up of ethnic or racial minorities.
- Not Even Past: Social Vulnerability and the Legacy of RedliningThis site juxtaposes maps from the 1930s with contemporary health disparities to illustrate the long-lasting impact of racial segregation and redlining in shaping the enduring contours of marked inequality. Compares HOLC redlining maps from the1930s with maps showing the Center for Disease Control's Social Vulnerability Index (SVI) scores for census tracts of 200 cities today. A collaboration between the University of Richmond's Digital Scholarship Lab and the National Community Reinvestment Coalition.
- Bird's-Eye Views - Amon Carter Museum of Modern ArtA collection of digital city views from the Amon Carter Museum, including Texas city views Search the Collection for: birds-eye view
- Historic AerialsLarge database of United States historic aerial maps. Search for any parcel of U.S. land and toggle through available years going back to 1955. Offers atlas, topographical, and aerial views. Free version as well as premium versions.
- American Panorama: An Atlas of United States HistoryContains interactive maps on various topics incorporating data from the 19th - 21st centuries. Includes maps about urban renewal, redlining, forced migration of enslaved people, overland trails, foreign-born population, and more.
- Atlas of the Historical Geography of the United StatesThis digital edition of the 1932 Atlas by Charles O. Paullin and John K. Wright reproduces all of the atlas's nearly 700 maps. Many of the maps are enhanced in ways impossible in print, animated to show change over time or made clickable to view the underlying data.
- War of the Rebellion AtlasDigitized maps from Baylor University concerning the Civil War. The maps come from the Atlas to Accompany the Official Records of the Union and Confederate Armies, published in 1895. Searchable by keywords, including military personnel, city, state, and geographic features.
- ProQuest Congressional This link opens in a new windowTo search for maps in ProQuest Congressional, select document type: Serial Set Maps, 1789-Present.
- Relaciones Geográficas Collection - Benson Latin American CollectionThe documents comprising the Relaciones Geográficas are original responses to a questionnaire initiated by the Spanish Crown in 1577, requesting information about Spanish held territories in the Americas. The documents include textual information and colorful maps (pinturas). From the University of Texas at Austin.
- Maps in the Perry-Castañeda Library Map CollectionDigitized maps from the University of Texas at Austin.
- Perry-Castañeda Library Map Collection, Other Historical Map Web SitesThis site out of the University of Texas at Austin is an excellent portal to a variety of high quality cartographical web sites. The links are very reliable.
- The Luso-Hispanic World in Maps: A Selective Guide to Manuscript Maps to 1900 in the Collections of the Library of CongressThe Luso-Hispanic World embraces countries and regions of the world ruled by Spain and Portugal at the zenith of their power. The collection includes cartographic objects depicting portions of five continents prepared by cartographers from Spain, Portugal, France, Great Britain, the Netherlands, various countries of Latin America, and the United States, among others, from the mid-16th century to 1900.
- American Geographical Society Library - Digital Map CollectionMore than 700 maps, ranging from early maps of Asia to historical maps of American cities, states, and national parks.
- David Rumsey Map Collection, Cartography AssociatesThe historical map collection has over 22,000 maps and images online. The collection focuses on rare 18th and 19th century North American and South American maps and other cartographic materials. Historic maps of the World, Europe, Asia, and Africa.
- 19th-Century Maps of the Middle East, North Africa, and Central AsiaThis page provides access to scans of some of the 19th-century maps of the Middle East, North Africa, and Central Asia. Most of these maps were published in Western Europe, and nearly all the others were published in Russia or in the United States. The maps are products of--or were designed to support--the major European and Russian activities in the region: exploration, scientific research, resource exploitation, conquest, and administration.
- Afriterra: The Cartographic Free LibraryAfriterra is an archive of antique maps and books related to Africa. It maintains a searchable catalog of over 2,500 high-resolution maps dating from 1480 to 1900 .
- Euratlas Periodis Web - A Historical Atlas and Gazetteer of Europe from Year 1 to 2000The history of Europe through a sequence of 21 historical maps, every map depicting the political situation at the end of each century.
- Historic CitiesHigh resolution digitized city maps from around the world, dating from the 1400s to the 1800s. Browse by country or city, or search by year or mapmaker.
- Harvard Map Collection Digital MapsThe Harvard Map Collection is one of the oldest and largest collections of cartographic materials in the United States with over 500,000 items. About 2,700 maps from the collection have been digitized. Visit this site to find maps of the Revolutionary War, London, Massachusetts towns, and other "treasures."
- Map History / History of Cartography GatewayA comprehensive guide to links for historical maps. Compiled by Tony Campbell (former Map Librarian, British Library, London).
- MercatorAn exploration of the map created by Gerardus Mercator in the 16th century.
- Maps ETCMore than 5,000 maps representing many different time periods. Their user friendly license allows teachers and students to use up to 25 maps in non-commercial educational projects without further permission. You may need to right click and save the file in order to get it to open.
- NOAA Daily Weather Maps (Historical Weather Maps)Historical daily weather maps from 1871 through 2002.
- WorldMapperWorldmapper is a collection of world maps called cartograms, where territories are resized on each map according to the subject of interest.