http://uvpafug.org/classes/dons/dons-maps.html

Online Maps for Family History

The information was taken from the website: Online Maps for Family History at  http://uvpafug.org/classes/dons/dons-maps.html.

This class will discuss online maps and their use in family history.

 

OVERVIEW OF MAPS, GAZETTEERS, AND ATLASES

• Maps give a visual representation of lots of information in compact form -- e.g. locations, distances, relationships of places, geographical features
• Types of maps -- road maps, topo (topological) maps, physical maps, land and property maps, railroad maps, fire insurance maps, migration maps, historical maps, county maps, cemetery maps, teaching maps, surname (or other cultural feature) distribution maps
• Styles of maps
  • Flat maps -- Mercator and other projections -- have to adjust the edges to be able to represent a curved surface (earth)
  • 3D maps -- actual 3D models in plastic, etc., and 2D views of 3D drawings so you see the geographic features more easily
  • Contour maps -- have "level" lines (contours at given heights) to show hills and valleys -- contours close together indicate steep places
  • Aerial maps -- photos from high up, can sometimes overlay them on drawn maps to show names of features
• Example of 10-minute animated video map of Growth of the U.S. - shows how helpful maps can be in understanding -- http://www.animatedatlas.com/movie2.html 
• Articles about maps and finding maps (see additional websites for maps below)
  • On http://www.familysearch.org 
    • FamilySearch Wiki -- https://wiki.familysearch.org -- Do a search for "maps" - brings up 5500 articles
      • Can also click on a particular location and find maps of it
    • On http://www.familysearch.org and click on Research Helps      Articles
      • Then sort by
        • Document Type > Maps
        • Subject > Maps
        • Place and find the maps of that place, e.g. England and see what maps are linked
      • Can use the "Find On This Page" feature of your browser and look for "maps" -- usually CTRL-F
      • List of Maps on FamilySearch.org
      • To find everything the FamilySearch website has about London maps, for example, do a Google search for "maps london site:www.familysearch.org" (without the quotes)
    • See FHL article "How to Use Maps" by Googling 'site:www.familysearch.org "how to find and use a map" '
  • Eastman's Online Genealogy Newsletter article on Map Your Ancestors on a Google Map -- http://blog.eogn.com/eastmans_online_genealogy/2007/07/map-your-ancest.html and Map Your Ancestors --http://www.mapyourancestors.com/ -- linked with your family tree on familysearch.org
  • Location of LDS chapels and FHC's -- http://maps.lds.org/ 
  • Maps in The National Archives (UK) -- http://www.nationalarchives.gov.uk/catalogue/RdLeaflet.asp?sLeafletID=304 
  • Using Maps In Genealogy -- http://erg.usgs.gov/isb/pubs/factsheets/fs09902.html -- U.S. Geological Survey
  • About.com article with lots of links -- http://geography.about.com/od/findmaps/u/maps.htm#s 
  • Ancestry's Learning Center has many articles on maps -- http://www.ancestry.com/search/rectype/reference/maps/default.aspx
• Gazetteers -- books and websites describing places in words including history and geography of the place
  • To find gazetteers for a particular country
    • Do a Google search for "gazetteers [country]" (without the quotes)
    • Or go to https://wiki.familysearch.org/en/Main_Page and enter "gazetteers [country]" (without the quotes)
  • Getty Museum Thesaurus -- http://www.getty.edu/research/tools/vocabulary/tgn/
  • Columbia Gazetteer of North America -- http://www.bartleby.com/69/
  • Columbia Gazetteer of the World -- http://www.columbiagazetteer.org/ 
  • U.S. Geographic Names Information System (GNIS) -- http://geonames.usgs.gov/domestic/index.html  
  • Gazetteer of British Place Names -- http://www.gazetteer.co.uk/ 
  • Links to British Gazetteers on GENUKI -- http://www.genuki.org.uk/big/Gazetteers.html 
  • Ordnance Survey Gazetteer of Great Britain -- http://www.ordnancesurvey.co.uk/oswebsite/freefun/didyouknow/ 
  • Samuel Lewis' Topographical Dictionary (Gazetteer) of England of 1848 (4 vols) -- http://www.british-history.ac.uk/source.aspx?pubid=445
  • Samuel Lewis' Topographical Dictionary (Gazetteer) of Wales of  1849 (2 vols) -- http://www.british-history.ac.uk/source.aspx?pubid=371 
  • Samuel Lewis' Topographical Dictionary (Gazetteer) of Scotland of 1846 (2 vols)  -- http://www.british-history.ac.uk/source.aspx?pubid=308 
  • Samuel Lewis' Topographical Dictionary (Gazetteer) of Ireland of  1837 (2 vols) -- http://www.libraryireland.com/topog/ 
  • Cassell's Gazetteer of Great Britain and Ireland on http://www.worldvitalrecords.com/indexinfo.aspx?ix=qcd14_ireindexmaps 
  • Curious Fox Gazetteer and queries on all villages in the UK and Ireland -- http://www.curiousfox.org.uk/  
• Commercial
  • $ Phillimore's Atlas of Parish Registers -- see http://globalgenealogy.com/countries/england/general/360001.htm -- (Book is very helpful, expensive, and NOT online.)
  • $ MapInfo Full Gazetteer of Great Britain -- http://extranet.mapinfo.com/products/Overview.cfm?productid=304 

MAP TECHNOLOGY

• GPS's (Global Positioning Systems) -- devices to help you find and keep track of locations, e.g. cemetery plots, so you or someone else can find them later
• Road mapping websites
  • Google Maps - http://maps.google.com/ 
  • NAVTEQ - http://www.us.map24.com/
  • MapQuest - http://www.mapquest.com/ 
  • OpenStreet Maps -- http://www.openstreetmap.org/ -- worldwide OpenSource maps and wiki
• Creating a personalized Google map --  http://maps.google.com/ 
  • Can also get to Google maps from http://www.google.com > click on Maps (upper left side) 
  • 3-minute video tutorial on how to make a Google map -- click on My Maps > Learn More, or click on http://maps.google.com/help/maps/mymaps/create.html 
  • To see some Google maps that I have created go to http://maps.google.com/ , type in "St. George City Cemetery" > click search All Results > click on More Info > scroll down to where it says User Created Content and click on Don Snow -- shows several maps I have made
  • To create or edit your own Google map you must have a gmail account (free) and sign in; then click on Maps > My Maps to see the maps you have created or create new ones
  • Can make a map of where you have lived or other important locations and events for individual timelines, family migrations, travels
  • Can set them to be public for everyone to see or private for only those you want to see them
  • Article "Plot your FH trip on Google Maps" -- Kimberly Powell -- http://genealogy.about.com/b/2007/06/18/plot-your-family-history-trip-on-google-maps.htm?nl=1
• Some mapping tools
  • Parish Locater For Windows for the U.K. --http://web.onetel.net.uk/~gdlawson/parfind.htm -- free download and install, has 25,000 parishes, their counties, and when records began in that parish
  • PARLOC 2.6 -- http://parloc.pwp.blueyonder.co.uk/parlocdl.html -- free download and install, has 15,000 parishes and counties, will draw map of surrounding parishes
  • Top 10 Online Mapping Tools -- http://blog.hotelclub.com/top-10-online-mapping-tools/ 
  • World History Maps -- http://www.worldhistory.com/ -- interactive maps of your ancestors and world historical events
  • $ Deed mapper -- sold by Direct Line Software -- http://www.DirectLineSoftware.com
  • $ AniMap (= "Animated Map") of U.S. -- sold by The Gold Bug Company -- http://www.goldbug.com/
  • $ Family Atlas -- http://www.rootsmagic.com
  • $ Surname mapping program for the U.K. -- http://www.archersoftware.co.uk/genmap01.htm
• Aerial and satellite maps
  • http://www.multimap.com -- good maps of current day British Isles; can overlay a map on an aerial photo of that land
  • TerraServer website -- http://terraserver.com/ and http://terraserver-usa.com/ -- USA Photo Maps -- http://jdmcox.com/ -- downloadable aerial and photo maps from Microsoft's TerraServer website
  • Satellite Photo Images and latitude and longitude -- http://www.satsig.net/maps/satellite-photo-image-viewer.htm 
  • Satellite Sightseer -- http://www.satellite-sightseer.com/
  • Google Earth -- http://earth.google.com/ 

SOME ONLINE MAP COLLECTIONS

• To find maps of a particular location do a Google search for [country, county, or state] + map on http://www.google.com , e.g. "Utah +map" (no space between + and map) gives millions of hits (+map indicates you require results with the word "map".)
• Cyndi's List -- http://cyndislist.com/ -- see links under Maps, Gazetteers, and Geographical Information at http://www.cyndislist.com/maps.htm
• U.S. maps
  • Growth of the U.S. - 10-minute online video -- http://www.animatedatlas.com/movie2.html 
  • U.S. Geological Survey maps -- http://nationalmap.gov/gio/viewonline.html -- Geographic Names Information System (GNIS) -- http://geonames.usgs.gov/redirect.html -- U.S. places, including cities, rivers, mountains, schools
  • County maps for U.S. Censuses -- http://quickfacts.census.gov/qfd/ , then select state and click on View Map
  • Library of Congress Map Collection -- http://memory.loc.gov/ammem/browse/ ListSome.php?category=Maps , http://memory.loc.gov/ammem/gmdhtml/ , http://lcweb2.loc.gov/ammem/gmdhtml/gmdhome.html
  • Census Atlas of the U.S. -- http://www.census.gov/population/www/cen2000/censusatlas/ -- all U.S. censuses, 300 pages long, downloadable in pdf
  • County maps of states of the U.S. -- http://quickfacts.census.gov/qfd/printmaps.html 
  • U.S. Geological Survey -- http://store.usgs.gov -- has some historical maps, e.g. 1895 Utah Relief Map -- can download or print these
  • USGenWeb project -- links to many maps in states and counties -- http://www.usgenweb.org/ 
  • Topozone -- http://www.topozone.com
  • Heritage Quest Online -- has some maps in books online, e.g. Dollarhide's The Census Book is online at this web site and has county boundaries for each U.S. Census
  • Historic Map Works - U.S. -- http://www.historicmapworks.com/ 
  • Trails to Utah and the Pacific (American Memory, Library of Congress) -- http://memory.loc.gov/ammem/award99/upbhtml/overhome.html
  • Utah Maps -- http://www.rootsweb.ancestry.com/~utgenweb/index.html  
  • LDS Church history maps including the Westward Movement of the LDS Church in the U.S. -- http://scriptures.lds.org/en/chmaps/contents
  • The USGW Digital Map Project -- http://usgenweb.org/projects/index.shtml 
  • New York Public Library Digital Collection -- http://digitalgallery.nypl.org/nypldigital/dgkeysearchresult.cfm?keyword=maps 
  • MapTech Historical US Maps -- http://historical.mytopo.com/ 
  • 1914 US county maps -- http://freepages.genealogy.rootsweb.ancestry.com/~shastaca/maps_index.html 
  • Historical Town Maps -- http://www.historicaltownmaps.com/store/
    
  • Sanborn Fire Insurance maps -- http://sanborn.umi.com/
    
• U.K. maps
  • MultiMap, primarily UK, but includes other countries -- http://www.multimap.com/ 
  • Free PDF 1833 Maps and Indexes of UK Parishes -- http://www.sgenealogy.com/products/atlase/maplist.htm
  • Bodleian Library Map Room (Oxford University) -- http://www.bodley.ox.ac.uk/guides/maps/ 
  • English Probate Jurisdiction maps -- http://www.familysearch.org/eng/Library/FHL/english_probate_jurisdictions.asp 
  • Ordnance Survey Maps of Great Britain, 1840 -- http://www.british-history.ac.uk/map.aspx 
    • Ordnance Survey webpage -- http://www.ordnancesurvey.co.uk/oswebsite/ 
    • Ordnance Survey maps and photos -- http://www.geograph.org.uk/mapbrowse.php 
  • 1881 Maps of counties of England -- http://www.londonancestor.com/maps/maps-england.htm 
  • UK aerial photos -- http://www.ukaerialphotos.com/ 
  • Cassini Maps - http://www.cassinimaps.co.uk/shop/tna1.asp
• Worldwide maps
  • Mapquest -- http://www.mapquest.com/ -- maps and driving directions
  • Perry-Castaneda Map Collection at U of Texas -- http://www.lib.utexas.edu/maps/ and http://www.lib.utexas.edu/maps/map_sites/hist_sites.html
  • David Rumsey Map Collection -- http://www.davidrumsey.com -- large collection of historical maps, being added to constantly
  • U.S. National Geographic -- http://plasma.nationalgeographic.com/mapmachine/
  • The Gold Bug -- http://www.goldbug.com/map/sitefinder.html -- also has some historical maps digitized and posted online
  • Education Place -- http://www.eduplace.com -- Link Library (bottom right), do a search for "maps" and get links for many collections of maps 
  • Links to map collections, mostly at colleges and universities -- http://www.libraryspot.com/maps 
  • ViaMichelin -- http://www.viamichelin.com/viamichelin/int/tpl/hme/MaHomePage.htm
  • UK Maritime Maps Collection -- http://www.nmm.ac.uk/collections/explore/index.cfm/category/charts 
  • Full color maps, primarily for teachers -- http://atlapedia.com/ 
  • National Geographic Society maps -- http://ngm.nationalgeographic.com/maps  
• Surname distribution maps
  • Surname distribution maps in U.S. -- http://hamrick.com/names/
  • Surname distributions in the U.K. -- http://www.nationaltrustnames.org.uk
  • Surname mapping in Germany -- http://christoph.stoepel.net/geogen/en/Default.aspx