Historical Maps
- In the Map Library
- Colorado Maps (online)
- U.S. Maps (online)
- Worldwide (online)
- Genealogy
The majority of historical maps of Colorado in the Map Library are uncataloged. The Map Library has the following types of maps:
- Topographic maps dating back to the 1880s
- Sanborn Fire Insurance Maps
- Maps of the state/territory of Colorado, including city and county maps
- Mining maps
- Plat maps
- Tourist and road maps
See our search tips for searching Chinook, the library’s online catalog. Keep in mind that for reproductions of historical maps, displaying results by date won’t show the original date of the map. Please contact library staff to find uncataloged maps, or if you need help.
- Topographic maps of the United States dating back to the 1880s
- Limited collection of state, city, and county maps of areas other than Colorado (cataloged and uncataloged)
- Historical atlases for many U.S. states and cities, including atlases with reproductions of historical maps
- Historic Urban Plans: reproductions of city maps and views. You can do a keyword search in Chinook: “historic urban plans and (area of interest)”
See our search tips for searching Chinook, the library’s online catalog. Keep in mind that for reproductions of historical maps, displaying results by date won’t show the original date of the map. Please contact library staff to find uncataloged maps, or if you need help.
- Army Mapping Service – World War II-era maps with topographic features, mostly Europe, some north Africa, Japan, Pacific Islands
- Historic Urban Plans: reproductions of city maps and views. You can do a keyword search in Chinook: “historic urban plans and (area of interest)”
- Baedeker's: late 19th and early 20th C travel guides, predominantly for Europe. You can do a keyword search in Chinook for “Baedeker's and (the country name)”
- City Plans: World War II-era city plans, mostly Europe, North Africa and Japan (uncataloged, ask library staff for help)
- Historical atlases for many international countries and cities including atlases with reproductions of historical maps.
- The Map Library also has detailed historical maps of England, Ireland, and Scotland.
See our search tips for searching Chinook, the library’s online catalog. Keep in mind that for reproductions of historical maps, displaying results by date won’t show the original date of the map. Please contact library staff to find uncataloged maps, or if you need help.
Building Colorado Story by Story: the Sanborn Fire Insurance Map collection
Digitized fire insurance maps of Colorado from the early 1880s through 1922. More of these maps are available in paper in the Map Library.
Creating Communities : Digitizing Denver's Historic Neighborhoods
From the Denver Public Library's Western History and Genealogy: site includes digitized historical maps, photographs, information about historic buildings for seven Denver neighborhoods.
The historical map collection has over 28,000 maps and images online. This links to the search results for Colorado Maps.
see also: Topographic Maps page and the next tab "Worldwide" for coverage that includes the U.S.
Sanborn Fire Insurance Maps
- Building Colorado Story by Story: the Sanborn Fire Insurance Map Collection (University of Colorado Boulder)
Digitized fire insurance maps of Colorado from the early 1880s through 1922. More of these maps are available in paper in the Map Library. - Sanborn Fire Insurance Maps (G&M Reading Room, Library of Congress)
Includes a checklist of Sanborn Fire Insurance Maps which can be browsed by state, and an introduction to Sanborn Fire Insurance Maps. - UC Berkeley's Union List of Sanborn and Other Fire Insurance Maps.>
List of libraries' holdings by state, many available online.
David Rumsey Collection
The historical map collection has over 28,000 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 are also represented.
Library of Congress: American Memory Map Collection
Historical maps from the Library of Congress: Cities and Towns, Conservation and Environment, Discovery and Explorations, Cultural Landscapes, Military Battles and Campaigns, Transportation and Communication.
Perry-Castañeda Map Collection: U.S. Historical Maps (University of Texas at Austin )
“Early Inhabitants, Exploration and Settlement, Territorial Growth, Military History, Later Historical Maps, Other Historical Map Sites, and Historical Maps of U.S. Cities”
Historical Maps of the United States (University of Alabama)
Organized by state
BLM: General Land Office Records
Survey search for scanned images of survey plats from the Bureau of Land Management. "Survey plats ... were the official survey documentation used when land title was transferred (via a land patent) from the Federal government to individuals. The survey plats are the graphic drawing of the boundaries created by each survey and contain the official acreage used in the legal description of the public lands."
NOAA's Office of Coast Survey Historical 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, including nautical charts, hydrographic and topographic surveys, city plans, and Civil War battlefield maps.
Urban Transition Project
"The Urban Transition Historical GIS Project is directed by John Logan, Professor of Sociology at Brown University. It uses historical census data to document the state of U.S. cities from the end of the 19th Century into the early 20th Century." Includes web-based maps and downloadable data.
Atlas of Historical County Boundaries Project
"The Atlas presents in maps and text complete data about the creation and all subsequent changes (dated to the day) in the size, shape, and location of every county in the fifty United States and the District of Columbia." Available as interactive maps and downloadable GIS data.
Daily Weather Maps Home Page - NOAA Central Library
This site provides access to historical daily weather maps from 1871-2002 and links to the site for weather maps for 2003-present.
David Rumsey Collection
The historical map collection has over 28,000 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 are also represented.
Historical Maps - Perry-Castañeda Map Collection ( University of Texas at Austin)
Historical maps indexed by region. Also look at link “Historical Maps on Other Web Sites.”
Historic Cities: Maps & Documents
From a joint project of the Historic Cities Center of the Department of Geography, the Hebrew University of Jerusalem and the Jewish National and University Library.
Using a geographical search, find historical maps available online in libraries around the world.
Historical Map Archive (University of Alabama)
Maps indexed by region and date.
Historic Cities: Yale Map Collection
Antiquarian Maps and Historical Cities
Map History / History of Cartography - WWW-Virtual Library
This site, compiled by Tony Campbell, the Map Librarian of the British Library in London, is part of the Institute of Historical Research in London's server, "History". Includes extensive lists of links to online map sites, organized by region and theme.
National Maritime Musem Collections Online (charts and maps)
“The National Maritime Museum collections contain more than 100,000 sea charts and maps dating from the medieval period to the present day.”
Also see Historical Maps: Worldwide Coverage
To the Mountains of the Moon: Mapping African Exploration, 1541-1880 (Princeton University)
An online exhibit of historical maps of Africa
16th-20th Century Maps of Africa (Northwestern University)
Also see Historical Maps: Worldwide Coverage
David Rumsey Collection
The historical map collection has over 28,000 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 are also represented.
Caribmap: A Cartographic History of the West Indies
Canada
The Atlas of Canada - The Atlas of Canada Site Map
Maps that show the physical and cultural geography of Canada. Look under “History” and “Map Archives” for historical maps.
MIRAGE - Map Image Rendering DAtabase for GEoscience
A digital image library of Geological Survey of Canada maps. The GSC has published thousands of maps since the mid-1800's. More than 10,000 of these maps have been scanned and are available.
Also see Historical Maps: Worldwide Coverage
Antique Maps (The Hong Kong University of Science and Technology)
"The Antique Maps of China collection includes more than 230 maps, charts, pictures, books and atlases. It represents almost all samples of China maps produced by European cartographers from the 16th to 19th centuries."
Maps from the Imperial Gazetteer of India
Japanese Historical Maps (East Asian Library, UC Berkeley)
From the East Asian Library at the University of California, Berkeley. Contains about 2,300 early maps of Japan and the World.
Also see Historical Maps: Worldwide Coverage
FEEFHS (The Federation of East European Family History Societies): Map Library
Scanned 19th century maps of eastern European countries.
Gettysburg College Digital Map Collection (from the John H. W. Stuckenberg Map Collection)
The majority of the collection consists of three 17th century atlases and over 500 separate maps from the 16th through the 19th century.
United Kingdom
Old Maps of the UK (Ordnance Survey)
"The UK's most comprehensive historical map archive comprising site centred historical maps covering England, Wales and Scotland...from the mid-19th Century onwards, from OS County Series, OS Town Plans and post-war National Grid mapping to unique Russian Maps of UK target locations from the cold-war era." (Free viewing, most pay to download images.)
A Vision of Britain through Time: Historical Mapping (University of Portsmouth)
Topographic maps, boundary maps, and land use maps from 1801- 2001.
Scotland
Ordnance Survey Scottish town plans, 1847-1895 (National Library of Scotland)
"62 towns were surveyed by Ordnance Survey, at the largest scales in their entire history (1:1,056, and 1:500), collectively forming a comprehensive snapshot of urban Scotland in the late 19th century. From the 1870s, fourteen towns were revised again, allowing useful chronological comparisons to be made."
Ireland
Irish Historical Geological Maps (Geological Survey of Ireland, the Geological Survey of Northern Ireland, and the British Geological Survey)
"This site displays a range of historical geological maps, sections and memoirs of Ireland, mostly from the 19th century."
The National Archives | DocumentsOnline | Irish Maps
This collection comprises more than 70 maps, amongst the earliest cartographic representations of Ireland, depicting plantations, fortifications and townships during the reigns of Elizabeth I and James I. Attractive and colourful, these maps include the famous 1567 map of Hibernia by John Goghe... Some of the maps are by Richard Bartlett, on whom John Andrews has recently written in his book 'The Queen's last map-maker', obviously drawn before Bartlett was beheaded by inhabitants of Donegal. Other well known mapmakers of the day are represented, such as Robert Lythe, Francis Jobson, Richard Bartlett and John Norden.
Irish Historic Maps (Ordnance Survey Ireland)
From Ordnance Survey Ireland. 6-inch series (1837-1842) in color and greyscale. 25-inch series (1888-1913) in greyscale. NOTE: maps must be purchased to view
Spain
Map Library of Catalonia Digital Collections
Focus is on Catalonia and Spain; also includes world and other regional maps from the 18th-20th centuries.
Germany
Alt-Berliner Stadtplan-Archiv.
Historical maps of Berlin, 1738 to 1989
Netherlands
Maps of Holland and Utrecht (University of Utrect)
"A digital representation of a collection of printed maps from the provinces of Holland and Utrecht from the 16th through the 19th centuries."
Also see Historical Maps: Worldwide Coverage
Holy Land Maps
From the Eran Laor Cartographic Collection
Walker Collection: Maps of Asia Minor and the Middle East, 1511-1774
Maps of Asia Minor and the Middle East, 1511-1774. From the University of Melbourne.
Armenia and Karabakh, history, maps, images, multimedia and info
History of Armenia; Includes a nice page of historical maps of Armenia.
Guide
to CU Boulder & Local Area Genealogical Resources
from the University Libraries Government Publication
Library.
Genealogy resources in the CU Boulder University Archives.
Finding Your Way Home: Using Maps in Genealogical Research (PowerPoint file)
A presentation to the University Libraries, May 2006.
General genealogy handout (2006) (pdf)
Jewish genealogy research handout (2004) (pdf)
Arphax
Publisher of Family Maps series of Land Patent Books, published county by county, state by state, for original settlers whose purchases are indexed in the U.S. Bureau of Land Management database.
Avotaynu
Publisher of guides to Jewish genealogy research.
BLM Land Patents database
Provides live access to Federal land conveyance records for the Public Land States. Also provides image access to more than two million Federal land title records for Eastern Public Land States,
issued between 1820 and 1908.
Federation
of East European Family History Societies Maps
Scanned 19th century maps of eastern European
countries
The
JewishGen ShtetlSeeker
This gazetteer searches for place names in Central
and Eastern European countries. Names can be searched
using the Daitch-Mokotoff Soundex system, which
allows for a phonetic match in case an exact spelling
is not known. This system was developed especially
to address Slavic and Yiddish names, but can be
used to find places in other languages as well.
Museum of Family History Map Room
More than one hundred topographic maps of various regions in Poland, along with some from Belarus and the Ukraine; all dated between WWI and WWII.
Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints
Using
Maps in Genealogy (USGS)
An online booklet by U.S. Geological Survey that
describes how maps can be used in genealogical
research. Lists useful publications and resources.
