Getting Started

Maps are one of the many sources you

may need to complete a family tree.

In genealogical research, maps can provide

clues to where our ancestors may have lived

and where to look for written records about

them. Beginners should master basic genealogical research techniques before starting to

use topographic maps.

Introductory books on genealogy suggest

timesaving ways to plan, gather, organize,

and record findings.

To learn basic genealogical research techniques, it's best to start with the most concise,

easy-to-read books, gazetteers, articles, pamphlets, and other sources that apply directly to

the kind of research you plan to do.

Books on the shelves of your local library may

not include those that will best serve your purpose. However, many libraries and bookstores

have the latest edition of Books in Print. Its

subject guide gives the titles, authors, publishers, and prices of hundreds of books on

genealogy.

Many libraries also have directories that give

the names and addresses of local, State,

regional, and national associations of genealogists, historians, and ethnic groups.

You may also find a copy of the pamphlet

Where to Write for Birth, Death, Divorce,

and Marriage Records. If not, you can purchase a copy from the U.S. Government

Printing Office, Washington, DC 20402.

Finally, online searching on terms such as

"genealogy" through any of the major World

Wide Web search engines (including

www.yahoo.com, www.excite.com, and

www.infoseek.com) or online bookstores can

direct you to Web sites and other resources

that can help.

How Maps Can Be Useful

Once you've gathered as many facts

about family history and customs as possible, turn to maps to uncover more specific

information or to solve historical "mysteries."

Old and new maps can help you track down

facts about a branch of your family. How? In

the United States, birth, death, property, and

some other kinds of records are normally kept

by the county governments. If you can name

the place where an ancestor lived, new or old

maps of that place may also show the county

seat where useful data about your kin can be

obtained.

Old maps can be particularly useful in this

regard because pinpointing the name of the

place where an ancestor lived can be like trying to hit a moving target. Many towns, counties, cities, and even countries have experienced numerous name changes over the years.

Though their names have changed, some of

these places may be noted on an old map. The

location of some others may be found in

sources such as lists of abandoned post offices,

local histories, government records, microfilm

records, or clippings from old newspapers, old

city directories, or old county atlases kept in

the library archives of a town, city, or county

in the region.

If you find unfamiliar place names during

your search, the U. S. Geological Survey

can help.

The Geographic Names Information System

(GNIS) is the Nation's official data base of

place names. The GNIS is maintained by the

U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) and can often

provide information on name changes. This

data base contains 2 million entries, including

the names of places that no longer exist, as

well as variant names for existing places.

This automated system also contains the

names of every type of feature except roads

and highways. It is especially useful for

genealogical research because it contains

entries for communities, as well as for churches and cemeteries, even those that no longer

exist.

To use this free service, e-mail: 

gnis_manager@usgs.gov, telephone

703-648-4544, or write to U.S. Geological

Survey, Geographic Names, 523 National

Center, Reston, VA 20192. You can also visit

the GNIS Web site at geonames.usgs.gov.

Constantly changing place names are not the

only challenge; the boundaries of many political jurisdictions where early Americans lived

have changed one or more times. Some

American families lived in the same locale for

hundreds of years. Yet, their homes may have

been swapped back and forth a number of

times between different political jurisdictionsCtowns, provinces, States, or countries.

This can greatly complicate your work. In one

case, for example, the place where a family

lived for the entire 19th century was at various

times part of seven different counties. In such

a case, you might have to query all seven

courthouses to obtain data needed about members of the family. Records or copies of

records were rarely acquired by a succeeding

county.

Similar but even more complex problems arise

when you must search for personal records in

Using Maps in Genealogy

U.S. Department of the Interior

U.S. Geological Survey

USGS Fact Sheet 099–02

September 2002
the archives of faraway lands. The names and

boundaries of countries seem to be forever in

flux, and many public and private record centers disappear or move from place to place.

Finding the Right Maps

To find useful maps, you must have strong

clues as to where and when your ancestors lived.

The best maps for your purpose are ones that:

 show in great detail an area around the 

place where your relative lived;

 show its location within a county or other 

jurisdiction; and

 name and show the borders of neighboring 

areas

A plat book in a town hall or county courthouse or an old fire insurance map may show

an outline of your ancestor's house and its

placement on you ancestor's property.

Such maps should help you picture where your

relatives were born, resided, attended school,

worked, shopped, voted, traveled over land or

water, courted, married, raised families, and

were laid to rest. You may need later maps of

the same area or other places to track down

ensuing generations.

Maps usually suggest some patterns of settlement and movement and rule out others. For

example, topographic and other relief maps

may show hills or mountains that impeded

migration or access to certain areas. Rivers

bridged now may not have been bridged when

kin lived nearby. Yet, a river can aid migratory

travel because sometimes it is easier to travel

on water than through dense forests and undergrowth, and it is even possible that your ancestors traveled by waterway to market, to attend

church or school, or to pursue a host of other

interests.

Maps covering larger areas may suggest various kinds of trade, employment, and social,

recreational, or other interactions among the

peoples of neighboring towns, settlements, or

other locales. Analysis of such maps may

expand the scope of research beyond nearby

county, State, provincial, or national boundaries.

Gathering Other Resources

Once you've used maps to identify the

most likely place names for your ances- tors' homes, try a local library or historical

society to find atlases, gazetteers, local

directories, and other sources that pertain

to locales of interest.

Many kinds of maps may be found at local,

State, or regional libraries, museums, or historical archives. Most local librarians can also

help you gain access to the rich holdings of the

USGS, National Archives, and the Library of

Congress, and to international sources of maps

and other resources needed by genealogists.

Libraries of local historical groups may be

your best bet to find some resources, such as

old city and business directories; old city,

county, and regional atlases; and files of obituaries and other articles from microfilm copies

of local newspapers.

The reference sections of many libraries also

have these useful directories:

Directory of Historical Societies of the United

States and Canada: American Association for

State and Local History, Nashville, Tenn.,

1990. This directory lists about 1,000 sources

in a genealogy index.

Official Museum Directory [American

Association of Museums]: National Register

Publishing Company, Wilmette, Ill., 1989 

Your local librarian may also be able to suggest someone who has access to sources such

as Map Guide to the U.S. Federal Censuses,

1790C1920: Genealogical Publishing

Company, Baltimore, 1988. This 445-page

book shows all U.S. county boundaries from

1790 to 1920. On each of the nearly 400 maps,

old county lines are superimposed over modern ones to highlight boundary changes in 10-

year intervals.

Separate books or papers have been published about the "genealogy" of each of a

large number of States, counties, and

other areas.

For example, Abstracts of the Earliest Wills

Upon Record in the County of Suffolk,

Massachusetts: Genealogical Publishing

Company, Baltimore, 1984.

Surnames in Ireland, Special Report On

[together with] Varieties and Synonyms of

Surnames and Christian Names in Ireland:

Genealogical Publishing Company, Baltimore,

2 v., indexed, 1901, 1909 (reprinted 1988).

Historical atlases can also prove useful.

A Genealogical and Historical Atlas of the

United States of America: Everton Publishers,

Logan, Utah, 1976.

Atlas of American History: Charles Scribner's

Sons, New York, 1943, 294 p.

Historical Atlas and Chronology of County

Boundaries 1788C1980: G. K. Hall, Boston,

Mass. 1984, 5 v.

Historical U. S. County Outline Map

Collection 1840C1980: Department of

Geography, University of Maryland, Baltimore

County, Baltimore, MD. 1984.

Township Atlas of the United States: Androit

Associates, McLean, Va., 1979.

A Series of County Outline maps of

Southeastern United States of the Period

1790C1980: Department of Geography,

University of North Carolina, 1973.

For information about place names around

the world, try any of the following:

Chambers World Gazetteer: ACZ of

Geographical Information: Cambridge

University Press, 1988.

Columbia Lippincott Gazetteer of the World:

Columbia University Press and J.B.

Lippincott, 1962.

Gazetteers and Glossaries of Geographical

Names of the Member Countries of the United

Nations and the Agencies in Relationship with

the United Nations: Bibliography, 1946C1976:

Wiesbaden: Franz Steiner Verlag, 1984.

Names on the Globe: Oxford University Press,

New York, 1975.

Parish Maps of the Counties of England and

Wales, Institute of Heraldic and Genealogical

Studies, Logan, Utah: Everton, 1977.

Shtetl Finder: Jewish Communities in the 19th

and Early 20th Centuries in the Pale of

Settlement of Russia and Poland, and in

Lithuania, Latvia, Galicia, and Bukovina, with

Names of Residents: Heritage Books, Bowie,

MD., 1989.

For national place name reference help,

try the following:

Biography of Place-Name Literature, United

States and Canada: American Library

Association, Chicago, 1982, 3d ed.

National Gazetteer of the United States of

America, Concise 1990, U.S. Geological

Survey Professional Paper 1200-US: U.S.

Government Printing Office, Washington,

D.C., 1990.

Geographic Names and the Federal

Government: A Bibliography: Geography and

Map Division, Library of Congress, 1990.

Webster's New Geographical Dictionary: G.

&. C. Merriam, Springfield, Mass., 1988.

For help with place-name research by

State, consult publications such as the

following. (This is just a small sampling of

what's available.)

A Gazetteer of Maryland and Delaware

[1904] (reprint): Genealogical Publishing Co.,

Baltimore, 1976.

A Gazetteer of Virginia and West Virginia

[1904] (reprint) Genealogical Publishing Co.,

Baltimore, 1975.

U.S. Department of the Interior

U.S. Geological Survey
A list of Places Included in 19th Century

Virginia Directories: Virginia State Library,

Richmond, 1981.

The Placenames of Maryland. Their Origin

and Meaning: Maryland Historical Society,

1984.

Some directories of map collections:

Many libraries have the current edition of The

Map Catalog: Vantage Press, a division of

Random House, New York, 1990. This handbook describes features and sources of a

worldwide range of new and old maps, atlases,

and related products. It has sections on

researching old maps, history maps, maps of

the United States and of foreign countries,

State, and provincial maps, county maps,

urban maps, city plans, boundary maps, census

maps, railroad maps, topographic maps, and

many other kinds of maps.

World Mapping Today: Butterworths, London,

1987. A large, 583-page book that describes

the mapping programs of each country in the

world and gives the names and addresses of

each country's principal mapping agencies.

Section 4 on Map Evaluation provides information on how to interpret and use maps.

Map Collections in the United States and

Canada: A Directory: Special Libraries

Association, New York, 1984, 4th ed.

Guide to U.S. Map Resources, 2 ed,:

American Library Association, Chicago, 1990.

Directory of Canadian Map Collections/

Repertoire des Collections de Cartes

Canadiennes; Association of Canadian Map

Libraries, 1980, 4th ed.

World Directory of Map Collections, compiled

by the Section of Geography and Map

Libraries, International Federation of Library

Associations and Institutions: K.G. Saur,

Munich, 1986.

Some map bibliographies:

Historical Geography of the United States: A

Guide to Information Sources: Gale Research,

Detroit, 1982, (see especially p.3C51).

Checklist of Printed Maps of the Middle West

to 1900: G.K. Hall, Boston, 1981C82, 14 v.

Bibliography on Cartography, Geography and

Map Division, Library of Congress: G. K.

Hall, Boston, 1973, 5 v First Supplement,

1980, 2 v.

U.S. Geological Survey maps:

In 1879, The USGS's new library began to

accumulate its holding of topographic and

many other kinds of maps of the United States

and its territories.

Copies of maps from the USGS library can be

ordered as photographic enlargements from

roll microfilm of out-of-print maps of the

United States, its territories, and outlying

areas. Scales of copies are not exact.

To order a photocopy of a map in the Survey's

library, contact any Earth Science Information

Center or call 1-888-ASK-USGS and describe

the kind of map you are seeking as completely

as you can.

You can order current USGS maps directly

from the Survey or from a local map dealer.

The USGS publishes and updates the following maps:

 More than 55,000 large-scale topographic 

maps (1:24,000, 1:25,000 and 1:20,000 for 

Puerto Rico) that together show most local 

areas of the United States and its territories, with the exception of Alaska's 2,400 

maps at 1:63,360. Each map names and 

shows in fairly rich detail every settled 

area and other features within the map's 

boundaries.

 Topographic maps of selected counties at 

scales of 1:50,000 or 1:100,000.

You can purchase these and other USGS maps

from the USGS or a local map dealer.

For each State, the USGS publishes an Index

to Topographic and Other Map Coverage and

[State] Catalog of Topographic and other

Published Maps [all scales]. To obtain a free

index and catalog for one or more States, contact any Earth Science Information Center or

call 1-888-ASK-USGS.

Geography and Map Division, Library of

Congress.

This Division holds and has direct access to

almost 4 million maps, 51,000 atlases, 8,000

reference works, and a large number of related

materials in other formats.

The Division draws on these vast resources to

provide cartographic and geographic information to Federal and local governments, the

scholarly community, and the public. No single catalog includes the Division's total holdings, but card and book catalogs provide

access to its collections.

The atlas collection includes representative

volumes of all significant publishers of atlases

over the past five centuries. The atlases cover

individual continents, countries, states, counties, cities and other geographic regions, as

well as the world. They range in scope from

general to topical.

Of major interest to genealogists are land ownership records kept by Federal, State, county,

and local government agencies. A good source

for early county maps is Land Ownership

Maps: A Checklist of Nineteenth Century

United States County Maps in the Library of

Congress, 1967.

Old and new large- and small-scale planimetric, topographic, and other kinds of maps are

available for every part of the United States

and for most other areas of the world.

Among the many county maps and city and

town plans are some 700,000 large-scale

Sanborn fire insurance maps. Since 1867, the

firm has issued and periodically updated

detailed plans of 12,000 U.S. cities and towns.

Some areas are represented by as many as

eight different editions. This collection is an

unrivaled cartographic and historic record of

America's urban settlement and growth over

more than a century.

Reference services through the Library of

Congress:

Reference service is available to the public in

the Geographic and Map Reading Room in

Washington, D.C., and by telephone or correspondence.

The collections in the Geographic and Map

Reading Room are for reference use only.

Maps and atlases are not available for sale or

free distribution.

The Geography and Map Division will

respond to requests that cannot be answered by

a library or other source in your locality. In

many cases, the Division can tell you the present name of a place where you believed an

ancestor once lived, and sometimes it can suggest places where vital and other records about

your ancestor may be on file. It is not possible,

however, for the Division to undertake extensive research projects or to assist students in

preparing term papers, bibliographies, or other

academic assignments.

Geography and Map Reading Room at the

Library of Congress:

This large reading room is open to the public

MondayCFriday (8:30 a.m.n5 p.m.). It is in

Room LM B01 of the Library of Congress

James Madison Memorial Building, 101

Independence Avenue, SE., Washington, D.C.

In the reading room, geographic and cartographic bibliographies, reference books, 

gazetteers, and current issues of cartographic

journals are readily available for consultation.

Acquiring photocopies of maps and

plates:

Subject to copyrights and other restrictions,

photocopies of maps and plates from atlases

may be ordered through the Library's

Photoduplication Service. Two free brochures

are also available:

U.S. Department of the Interior

U.S. Geological Survey
(1) Geography and Map Division, the Library

of Congress

(2) List of Publications, Geography and Map 

Division

Look for them in your library or order copies

from: 

Geography and Map Division

Library of Congress

Washington, DC 20540-4650

Another helpful Library of Congress publication is The Geography and Map Division: A

Guide to its Collections and Services. This

booklet describes some noteworthy items in

the Library's collection. You can order it (specify stock number 030-004-00015-9) from:

Superintendent of Documents

U.S. Government Printing Office

Washington, DC 20402

Cartographic and Architectural Branch, National Archives:

The National Archives is the official repository

for noncurrent, permanently valuable records

produced by the Federal Government since

1774, including almost 2 million maps. If your

library does not have a copy of the free pamphlet, Cartographic and Architectural Branch,

you can order it (specify General Information

Leaflet #26) from:

Publications Sales Branch

National Archives

8th and Pennsylvania Ave., NW.

Washington, DC 20408

202-501-5235

The National Archives also offers the Guide to

Genealogical Research at the National

Archives. This 304-page illustrated guide was

revised in 1985. Chapter 20 on Cartographic

Records describes holdings of the National

Archives that are of special value to genealogist:

 Census Records: census enumeration 

maps, enumeration district descriptions, 

and civil division outline maps.

 General Land Office Records: township 

survey plats and U.S. land district maps.

 Military Records: manuscript, annotated, 

and printed maps, plans, and charts compiled or collected by various military organizations.

 Other Cartographic Records: small-scale 

civil division maps, postal route maps, 

USGS topographic quadrangle maps, area 

and county soil maps, tax assessment 

maps, maps relating to captured and abandoned property, and maps pertaining to 

American Indians.

This guide can be ordered from the

Publications Sales Branch of the National

Archives or from:

National Archives Trust Fund

NEPS Dept. 735

P.O. Box 100793

Atlanta, GA 30384

(hardcover $25, plus $3 postage).

Other National Archive publications about

cartographic records:

Civil War Maps, 1964

List of Selected Maps of States and Territories,

1971.

Records and Policies of the Post Office

Department Relating to Place Names, 1975.

Cartographic Records Relating to American

Indians, 1974 . . . the Bureau of Indian Affairs,

1977. . .the Territory of Iowa 1836n1848,

1971. . . the Territory of Wisconsin 1836n

1846, 1970.

List of Cartographic Records of the General

Land Office, 1964.

Pre-Federal Maps In the National Archives:

An Annotated List, 1975.

Transportation in Nineteenth-Century

America: A Survey of the Cartographic

Records in the National Archives of the United

States, 1975.

Preliminary Inventory of the Cartographic

Records of the Bureau of the Census, 1958.

Followup Hints:

Directories and pamphlets are only general

guides, but they will help direct you to the

right map collection to suit your needs.

In making inquiries, give as much information

as possible. Try to provide the State, county,

and town or township; the publisher, year, and

place of publication; and the edition of the

map or volume of maps. Specify the kind of

information that you want on the map and the

approximate area of coverage.

The map researcher will then be able to indicate if that mapCor one like itCexists in that

particular collection.

Acknowledgments:

The U.S. Geological Survey would like to

thank the following for their assistance:

J.B. Post, "Maps for Genealogists," Special

Libraries Association G&M Bulletin, No. 143,

March 1986, New York.

Ronald E. Grim, Reference and Bibliography

Section, Geography and Map Division,

Library of Congress, Washington, D.C.

Genealogical Publishing Company

1001 N. Calvert Street

Baltimore, MD 21202

Riley Moffat, "Genealogy and Maps: Some

Reference Sources," Western Association of

Map Libraries Information Bulletin, v.12, no.

1, Nov. 1980, Santa Barbara Calif.

More Information:

For information on other USGS products and

services, call 1-888-ASK-USGS, or visit the

general interest publications Web site on mapping, geography, and related topics at

erg.usgs.gov/isb/pubs/pubslists/.

For additional information, visit the

ask.usgs.gov Web site or the USGS home page

at www.usgs.gov.

U.S. Department of the Interior

U.S. Geological Survey