The boundary change maps direct us to the proper jurisdictions for records at particular points in time. Scale tells us how many units on the ground are represented by one unit on the map. One inch on the survey or map equals 1,200 inches on the ground, which in turn equals 100 feet, as described by the words under the bar. Typical examples are highway maps of the smaller states and many nineteenth-century county maps and atlases. Where development was sparse, they may be all that's available, and will provide the needed degree of detail.
Typical examples are world atlas maps and highway maps covering the larger states.
Many of them were made at the turn of the century, and they may show the churches and rural schools our ancestors attended or the houses in which they grew up. Each series of maps will have its own set of symbols, shown in the margin or on a separate accompanying sheet, or on a page at the beginning of an atlas. Many symbols are international in use or vary only slightly from map to map. Land form symbols, often shown in brown, take several forms. Modern large-scale topographic maps use contour lines, which run around a hill in such a way that the line is always at the same height above sea level.