Genealogy Friends News

Roundtable Recap – Maps

October 10, 2024

GenFriend members shared many suggestions for locating different maps to aid in our genealogy research and fill out our family stories during the October Roundtable Discussion Group.

Google Earth and Google Maps are well-known resources that offer much more than the current view of an area. Google Earth Outreach offers a Learn section with tutorials to create custom maps. A quick Google or YouTube search will bring up instructional videos, such as this one, on how to overlay historic maps. Current and historic maps can also be compared side by side in two different windows. It was noted during the Roundtable that these maps can provide some clarity if known locations are viewed in relation to county and/or state boundaries or other known landmarks. For example, the answer to why your ancestor always went to another state to give birth could be as simple as the nearest medical facility was closer to home but just over the state line.

The largest collection of Sanborn Maps is found at the Library of Congress. These maps were created for the fire insurance industry and provide information on the construction materials and size of structures in a particular vicinity. Each map will have a key on it explaining all of the symbols and colors used for that map. It’s advisable to read the “About this Collection” for further information. These maps can help us picture the homes of our ancestors and their neighbors along with other structures in the town. Sanborn Maps can also be found in many other places including regional collections, manuscript collections, and at historical societies.

The online Perry-Castaneda Library (PCL) Map Collection is a small part of the PCL holdings at The University of Texas Libraries. This is an extensive collection of many different types of maps from throughout the world and can be browsed by region, country, state, type of map, etc. Most of the links still seem to work, but there is a notice on the front page that the website is archived and no longer being updated. There are links for additional information.

USGS provides topographical maps of the United States, including a Historical Topographic Maps Collection and a Geographic Names search. These maps are useful for providing the historical names of creeks and other places that are sometimes mentioned in deeds and other paperwork. This can be very helpful in determining more exact locations for our ancestors.

Land ownership maps, known as plat maps, are another useful tool for locating the exact location our ancestors lived in a given vicinity. They show how the land was divided at the time the map was created. The surname of the owner of each tract of land is written in that property’s space. The owner’s name will sometimes include the first name or initial. If a widow owns the land, that is often indicated with Widow or Mrs. It’s a good idea to search for plat maps at any genealogy site you use as many resources have at least some for their area and maybe additional locations. HistoryGeo offers a searchable database and document images but is a subscription site.  Access to it is available through many public libraries, including the Plano Public Library, with your library card.

Several other large sites offering a variety of maps are Historic Map Works, the David Rumsey Map Collection, the Bureau of Land Management, Digital Public Library of America, and the National Archives. The Library of Congress also offers other maps in addition to Sanborn.

Other types of maps:

Cemetery maps similar to what can be found at Burial Search and the VA’s National Cemetery Administration. The specific cemetery of your ancestor might also have a plot map.

Transportation maps such as the Railroad Maps found at the Library of Congress.

Military maps of battles/locations where an ancestor might have served. The National Archives has Civil War maps, for example.

Migration route maps can be found at many websites via a Google search. The National Park Service offers some good information and maps about historic routes in America.

Sites helpful for understanding map information:

A United Kingdom website, MapServe, has information about Ordnance Surveys in other countries.

The Newberry Library offers an interactive website depicting historical boundaries for US Territories, States, and Counties.

Creating personalized maps:

Family Atlas is a genealogy mapping and publishing software available from Roots Magic for a modest cost. It’s a stand-alone product, not a subscription.

Many family tree programs provide some sort of timeline/map option. The timeline feature at Family Search, for example, is accessed on the profile page of a person in your family tree and includes a map.

There are many more sites to access maps useful for our family history research. In addition to the ones mentioned above, there are some older but still helpful options. USGenWeb is a completely free website that was created almost 30 years ago by genealogists and maintained by volunteers. The Internet Archive and Wayback Machine provide access to a wide range of materials and past versions of websites. County courthouses, historical societies, and local libraries can provide suggestions, if not actual maps, for possible locations where your ancestors might have been. State archives and college collections are another good source. A simple Google search with terms such as ‘historic map + (place name)’ or ‘(town name) + Sanborn map’ could yield new materials to research. GenFriend members also mentioned to search again at sites you have checked in the past as many sites continue to digitize additional records.

Serendipity often leads to genealogy finds. Many years ago, I was watching a genealogy show, probably Who Do You Think You Are, when a 1641 plat map of New Haven, CT, popped up on the screen. I was not related to the ancestor of the guest on the show, but my eyes immediately focused on two names, Joshua Atwater and David Atwater, as Atwater is the maiden name of a gggrandmother in one of my paternal lines. I had not yet researched her line, but I wondered if there could be a connection. It turns out that the David Atwater on that 1641 map is my 9x greatgrandfather! You never know what direction a map might lead you in your research, so they're always worth looking at.