Historical Maps of the United States Collections

Sewall’s Map of Minnesota, 1857

Sewall’s Map of Minnesota was entered according to Act of Congress in the year 1857, by J. S. Sewall. The map provides insight into the 19th century topographical history of Minnesota and Wisconsin, along with pinpointing the location of several Native American villages of the Chippewa and Sioux. The map was prepared for the purpose of land sales and the construction of the Lake Superior and Mississippi Railroad which was to be completed by June 1870. The map is extremely detailed for such an early creation, and includes natural and man-made creations such as waterways, roads, railroads, and reservations. A … Read more

Sauthier’s 1779 Map of New York

Sauthier’s map of New York summarizes much of the British military mapping done in the years preceding the revolution. Sautier himself typifies the multi-cultural staff of the British corps of engineers. Born in Strasbourg, Sautier practiced surveying in his native Alsace. He was eventually employed by Governor Tyron in 1776, and appointed surveyor for the Province of New York in 1773. As surveyor for New York he was involved in determining the disputed boundaries of the province. After 1776 he was employed as a military surveyor. In compiling this map Sauthier drew on his detailed surveys, as well as on … Read more

Northern Alabama Land Cessions Map

The Northern Alabama Land Cessions map was initially drawn up for a series found in the 18th Annual Report of the Bureau of American Ethnology. Specifically, it was created to reference the compilation by Charles C. Royce for the Indian Land Cessions in the United States. Since the map was drawn up in 1896 it only references those land cessions occurring before that year. The Northern Alabama Land Cessions map was drawn by A. Hoen & Company, Lithographers from Baltimore. Map by Cession # The map references 4 specific cessions as defined by Treaties, Acts and Agreements with Indian Tribes … Read more

Map of Zwaanendael

Nautical chart of Zwaanendael (“Swanendael”) and Godyn’s Bay in New Netherland. Zwaanendael was a patroonship founded by Samuel Godyn, a director of the Dutch West India Company, in 1629. Godyn made his land claim to the West India Company under jurisdiction of the Charter of Freedoms and Exemptions. After a short time, the initial 32 inhabitants were murdered by local Indians and Godyn sold his land back to the West India Company. The West India Company kept the names of the local area, including Godyn’s Bay, which eventually became Delaware Bay. The text in Dutch at left side of the … Read more

Map of part of North America from Cape Charles to the Mouth of the River Mississipi

Captain John Barnwell, otherwise known as Tuscarora Jack, was a well known frontier settler who was active in the 1711 Tuscarora War. His travels throughout the Southeast enabled him to draw a relatively accurate map of the area of his travels and exploration, some from second hand information, but most from first hand. For researchers of the Southeast this map is critical, and never before seen online in such a large form as to be able to read the hand writing and personal descriptions and historical details as outlined by Barnwell. In order to view this map in a form that made it legible you had to travel to one of the two locations the actual versions exist.

John Mitchell’s Map

The Mitchell Map remained the most detailed map of North America available in the later eighteenth century. Various impressions (and also French copies) were directly used to help establish the boundaries of the new United States of America by diplomats at the Treaty of Paris (1783) that ended the American Revolutionary War. The map’s inaccuracies subsequently led to a number of border disputes, such as in Maine. Its supposition that the Mississippi extended north to the 50th parallel (into British territory) resulted in the treaty using it as a landmark for a geographically impossible definition of the border in that … Read more

Iowa Atlases, Farm Directories, and Plat Books

This collection contains digital atlases, farm directories, and plat books for all 99 Iowa counties. We have collated these from a variety of online sources, and provide them here as a single source for all online Iowa County Atlases, Farm Directories, and Plat Books.

Historical Maps of the United States

Other then adding a splash of color to a web page, maps provide the researcher valuable clues to historic why’s. Here at AccessGenealogy we believe early maps play a valuable role in identifying the location and names of Indian villages and towns. While not always accurate as to the actual placement of villages (especially the early American ones), maps do shed light on the tribal affiliations, the identification of the tribe by various government entities (mainly French, Spanish and British), and approximate locations. Historical Maps of the United States 1640 Virginiae et Floridae Map 1718 de L’Isle Map 1755 Mitchell … Read more

De Bry’s Map of 1561

A map of extraordinary rarity and seminal importance, this is one of the earliest and most influential maps of the American southeast ever published. Drawn by the French artist Jacques Le Moyne de Morgues c. 1565 and published by Theodore de Bry in 1591, this magnificent map details the Florida peninsula and Carolina coast from Cuba to the Bahamas, to “Prom Terra flag” or, as it is known today, Cape Lookout near Beaufort, North Carolina. The fascinating story of this map begins with the ambitions of the influential Huguenot Admiral Gaspard de Coligny. De Coligny, desirous of a French foothold … Read more

Alabama Land Cessions Map

The Alabama Land Cessions map was initially drawn up for a series found in the 18th Annual Report of the Bureau of American Ethnology. Specifically, it was created to reference the compilation by Charles C. Royce for the Indian Land Cessions in the United States. Since the map was drawn up in 1896 it only references those land cessions occurring before that year. The Alabama Land Cessions map was drawn by A. Hoen & Company, Lithographers from Baltimore. Map by Cession # The map references 16 specific cessions as defined by Treaties, Acts and Agreements with Indian Tribes across Alabama. … Read more

1901 Charlevoix County MI Plat Book

1901 Charlevoix County Michigan Plat Book

The 1901 Charlevoix County MI Plat Book, a beautiful historical piece, full of interesting tidbits of information about properties, is now available digitally. Digitization was made possible through a generous donation by the Friends of the Charlevoix Public Library. The scanning work was completed locally, by Village Graphics. The rectangular system of surveying Government lands, termed the Land System of the United States, was adopted by an act of Congress passed May 20, 1785. The ordinance provided for townships six miles square, containing thirty-six sections of one mile square. The region embraced by the surveys under this law forms a … Read more

1779 Map of Georgia

The 1779 map of Georgia remains unattributed to a specific cartographer, but it has considerable similarities to a map published just one year later by Bew, called A new and accurate map of the chief parts of south Carolina and Georgia. Native American Research This map is important for Muskogee and Cherokee research as it details the locations of many Indian towns and Indian Trails. One can determine by looking at the Indian towns on the map that there was little known by this cartographer concerning the interior of Georgia from the Atlantic coast to the Flint River. While he … Read more

1755 Mitchell Map

In 1755 John Mitchell produced a large map of what was known at that time of the Map of the British and French Dominions. Produced in 8 sheets, this map when laid out covered a space roughly equal to 6.5ft by 4.5 ft. John Mitchell created this map by researching and looking at previously published maps and manuscripts. While fraught with obvious bias towards English imperial claims to America, by minimizing the claims of the French and Spanish, this map has still reached notoriety in it’s authenticity and accuracy… The maps greatest reference was when it was used to set … Read more

1718 de L’Isle Map

In 1718 Guillaume de L’Isle published “Carte de la Louisiane” which was based on the 1703 maps “Carte de Mexique et de la Floride” and “Carte du Canada ou de la Nouvelle France,” credited to him, but actually done by his father, Claude. The 1703 maps were based on the explorations of Marquette, Joliet, La Salle, LeSueur, and others. These maps depicted the Missouri River extending as far as the country of the Omaha Indians, the “Rivière Longue” of Lahontan, the full course of the Mississippi River and, for the first time, an accurate representation of the mouth of the … Read more

1640 Virginiae et Floridae Map

1640 Official French Royal Map – Virginiae et Floridae

The Kingdom of France continued to claim what is now Georgia and South Carolina even though there is no record of any French settlements in the region after 1568. By issuing this map, the King of France also recognized the legitimacy of the Virginia Colony. The coat of arms of Great Britain are placed upon that section of North America. By this time, France had also established permanent settlements in Quebec and was claiming all of present day Canada, except for Newfoundland. This map is the first one to provide an accurate description of the South Atlantic Coast. It includes … Read more