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Digital Map Collections

EXPLORE DIGITIZED MAPS ON THE WEB 

The web offers a treasure trove of digitized maps to explore, and purchase. Here are a few I visit often and highly recommend:

  1. The Library of Congress – over 37,000 maps sortable by collection type (eg. Civil War, Panoramic, Railroad)
  2. American Geological Society Library Digital Map Collection — contains over 14,000 maps, ranging from early maps of Asia to historical maps of Wisconsin and Milwaukee, and other American cities, states, and national parks
  3. National Geographic Map Archives – peruse the digital archive of NatGeo’s entire editorial cartography collection—every map ever published in the magazine since the first issue in October 1888. Click Wall Maps > Archive
  4. Norman B. Leventhal Map & Education Center — located at the Boston Public Library, it has over 200,000 maps with a portal for over 1500 maps related to the American Revolutionary War
  5. McMaster University Historical & Rare MapsMcMaster University Library (Ontario, Canada) possesses a rich collection of historical maps, ranging from rare, antique maps, to local historical materials and maps of theatres of war.
  6. David Rumsey Historical Map Collection – The David Rumsey Historical Map Collection is one of the world’s largest private map collections. It has over 150,000 maps and cartographic items.
  7. Washington Library — among the resources of the Fred W. Smith National Library for the Study of George Washington, and from other staff resources at George Washington’s Mount Vernon
  8. Maps of the Past — The restored map library now consists of roughly 6,200 historical maps dating back to the sixteenth century; and their archives hold several thousand additional maps awaiting restoration
  9. New World Cartographic — Huge collection of vintage historical and pictorial maps for sale
  10. Harvard Map Collection — the oldest map collection in the United States, it holds some 400,000 maps and 6,000 atlases
  11. United States Geological Survey — best geographic resource on the physical features of the American landscape, and its nearly 200,000 historical topographic maps are available to the public
  12. Old Maps Online — easy-to-use searchable gateway to historical maps hosted online by repositories around the world
  13. Geographicus Rare Antique Maps –specializing in original historic cartography from 1500 – 1920
  14. Atlas of the Historical Geography of the United States — digital edition of nearly 700 maps from Charles O. Paullin and John K. Wright’s 1932 Atlas of the Historical Geography of the United States
  15. Cornell University Persuasive Map Collection — more than 800 historical maps to browse
  16. Digital Public Library — nearly half a million map and map-related items, many about the Civil War and American culture
  17. Mapmania – “A database for the map-obsessed.”
  18. Barry Lawrence Ruderman Map Collection — specialize in antique maps & atlases from the 15th-19th Centuries, as well as rare Americana books with maps
  19. Bodleian Map Room — The Bodleian Libraries at the University of Oxford
  20. Maps of Antiquity — browse and purchase antique maps from all over the world
  21. New York City Subway — tons of vintage maps of the city’s subway system
  22. Vintage City Mapsoffers the most extensive collection of restored and remastered maps available
  23. The Vintage Map Shop
  24. New York Public Library — nearly 9,000 pages from 162 atlases documenting New York City’s changing geography and built environment. The majority of these maps are fire insurance maps, some of the most detailed city maps ever published
  25. Michigan State University Map Library
  26. University of Texas at Austin
  27. eBay — browse and purchase posters and prints of fabulous vintage maps and posters (like WPA, travel, bicycle, aviation, zoo, circus, cities)
  28. Studio Graffika — over 500 maps and old cartographic map art prints from the 15th century up until the late 19th century.
  29. University of Nevada Las Vegas