LibGuides: Maps: Digital Map Resources

General Resources

American Memory Map Collections - Library of Congress
Thousands of historical and current maps from all over the world. Browse for maps of cities and towns, railroads and other transportation maps,conservation and environment, discovery and exploration, military battles and campaigns, and general maps.
David Rumsey Collection
The David Rumsey Collection is a privately held map collection housed in California. It specializes in 18th and 19th century cartography of the Amreicas. Areas included, but not limited to: Washington DC, San Francisco, Boston, Lewis and Clark Expedition.
Directory of National Mapping Agencies
This page contains a directory of national mapping agencies for most countries. They are the foreign equivalents of the USGS, and provide both maps and geospatial data for their respective countries.
Map History Page
This virtual library maintains not only numerous scanned maps and atlases, but also provides information on map history, cartography, and map collecting. The pages of this carefully organized site offer comment and guidance, and many links - selected for both relevance and quality.
Perry-Castañeda Library Map Collection
An amazing collection, located at the University of Texas at Austin Library, of over 2,000 current and historical maps from around the world arranged by geographic location including older edition CIA maps.
United Nations Maps
More than 100 regional and country maps (.pdf). Details include primary and secondary cities, rivers, roads (though not named), and railroads. Not all countries represented notably Brasil, Mexico, Nigeria, and most countries in Western Europe.

Individual state resources

(Alabama) Alabama Maps, Department of Geography- University of Alabama
The University of Alabama's Cartographic Research Laboratory maintains this large digital map and aerial photograph collection. Contemporary Alabama thematic maps and aerial photographs are also available.
(Connecticut) Connecticut Map & Geographic Info Center
UConn's Map and Geographic Information Center provides links to Connecticut, New England, and United States maps and geospatial data.
(Georgia) Sanborn Fire Insurance Maps For Georgia Towns and Cities, 1884-1922
Sanborn® Fire Insurance Maps for Georgia Towns and Cities, 1884-1922 consists of 4,445 maps by the Sanborn Map Company depicting commercial, industrial, and residential areas for 133 municipalities. Originally designed for fire insurance assessment, the color-coded maps relate the location and use of buildings, as well as the materials employed in their construction. The maps indicate which city utilities--such as water and fire service--were available.
(Illinois) The Electronic Encyclopedia of Chicago Map Collection
The Encyclopedia of Chicago is a dynamic and unprecedented metropolitan history. Thousands of historical resources-including articles, photos, maps, broadsides and newspapers-related to Chicago's colorful and complex history are at your fingertips.

United States Resources

Atlas of Historical County Boundaries - Newberry
The Atlas of Historical County Boundaries is a project of the William M. Scholl Center for Family and Community History at the Newberry Library in Chicago.
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This reference work provides information about the creation and boundary changes of every county in the United States, from the earliest county creation in the 1600s through 2000. Users can customize the maps by choosing a date of interest and adding or deleting various layers, such as modern county seats, county names, and boundaries. An array of powerful tools enables the user to zoom in and out and pan, and to query and manipulate the map in several different ways. Additional information can be viewed by clicking on the Chronologies or Supplemental Texts buttons.
Atlas of Historical County Boundaries - UVa Library
Created using data from the Newberry edition above, this version provides data for multiple states simultaneously, and provides different options for chronological viewing of changes.
FEMA Map Service Center
The Map Service Center (MSC) Web site is a dynamic, customer-based service designed to provide the latest information and support services. MSC products include: Digital Flood Insurance Rate Maps (DFIRM), Flood Insurance Rate Maps (FIRMs), Flood Insurance Study reports (FIS reports), Digital Q3 flood data, Community Status Book, Flood Map Status Information Service (FMSIS), Letters of Map Change (LOMCs), and NFIP Insurance Manuals.
Geographic Names Information System
A gazetteer covering the entire country. Allows you to search for cities, towns, and physical features, and displays geographic coordinates and quadrangle name for its location in the USGS 7.5 minute topographic map series.
Historical USGS Maps-Maptech
Hosted by Maptech, this historic map collection included 7.5-minute, 15-minute, and 30-minute series maps for Northeastern states from Maryland to Maine.
Interactive Electoral Map
This is an interactive Electoral College map for 2004 and a history of Presidential elections in the United States. Shows the electoral vote outcomes of the Presidential Elections from 1789 until 2000.
National Atlas of the United States
An online, interactive resource, this atlas updates a large bound collection of paper maps that was published in 1970. From the U.S. Department of the Interior. See their FAQ and Help sections.
National Geologic Map Database
The National Geologic Map Database is managed by the USGS's National Cooperative Geologic Mapping Program in cooperation with the Association of American State Geologists and can help you find information about maps and related data for: geology, hazards, earth resources, geophysics, geochemistry, geochronology, paleontology, and marine geology.
National Historic Geographic Information System
NHGIS is a project to create and freely disseminate a database incorporating all available aggregate historic census information for the United States between 1790 and 2000. The data being incorporated into NHGIS covers social and economic topics from 1790 through 2000. Census blocks shapefiles are available. Check the "Data Availability" link for a chart on the status of included data. The data is free, but users must register to download data.
The National Map
Another USGS web mapping site. A large amount of vector and raster data from several federal agencies. A smaller set of the data is available for download.
NOAA - Historic Map and Chart Collection
The Office of Coast Survey's Historical Map & Chart Collection contains over 20,000 maps and charts from the late 1700s to present day. The Collection includes some of the nation's earliest nautical charts, hydrographic surveys, topographic surveys, geodetic surveys, city plans and Civil War battle maps. This website contains historic navigation, bathymetry, occasional topographic maps.

Sanborn Maps, 1867-1970 This link opens in a new window
Maps that show building footprints. Very detailed.

Soil Surveys - Natural Resources Conservation Service (USDA)
Soil survey maps have long been printed and bound into soil survey books free for the asking at local USDA Service Centers, NRCS field office and public libraries. But they're being slowly phased out. Currently, NRCS has soils maps and data available online for more than 95% of the nation's counties and expects to have data for 100% of counties in the near future. The site will be updated and maintained online as the single authoritative source of soil survey information.
USGS Store
This website offers free downloads or purchased print copies of all USGS maps and publications on-line. In addition to USGS products, the catalog carries the products of other agencies that are available from the USGS: USFS, BLM, etc. Full documentation is provided for all maps.

Individual Nation Resources

(UK) British Historical Maps
Britain's Digital Historical Map library. To locate a map, enter a place name, address or coordinate (OS Grid Reference) then click the Search button. Alternatively go to the County Gazetteer to select a place name.
(UK) Maps of Scotland: National Library of Scotland
The National Library of Scotland has one of the top 10 largest map collections. Some of these maps are available online including: Maps of Scotland, 1560-1928; Pont's Map's of Scotland, ca. 1583 - 1596; Military Maps of Scotland (18th century); Ordnance Survey town plans 1847-1895.

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General Resources

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United States Resources

Individual Nation Resources

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