ONLINE MAPS FOR FAMILY HISTORY
©2009 by Donald R. Snow
Sections of the Class Notes
This page was last updated 2009-11-18.
Return to the Utah Valley PAF
Users Group Home Page , or Don's Class
Listings Page .
WELCOME AND INTRODUCTION TO CLASS
- Welcome
- Instructors are Donald R. and Diane M. Snow ( snowd@math.byu.edu and dms34@juno.com ) of Provo and St.
George, Utah, and Nauvoo, Illinois.
- These notes with active Internet links are posted on the Utah
Valley PAF Users Group website http://uvpafug.org
under Class Outlines
, Don's
Listings . Many other class notes for family history are
linked on the UVPAFUG website also.
- 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)
- Gazetteers -- books and websites describing places in words
including history and geography of the place
- Commercial
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
- 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
- Aerial and satellite maps
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
- Worldwide maps
- Surname distribution maps
ASSIGNMENT
- Watch the 10 minute video of the Growth of the U.S. - see link
under Online Map Collections above.
- Use maps.google.com or mapquest.com to find a map of the town
and streets around where you lived when you were a child.
- Find a map of where one of your parents was born.
- Create a Google map with a marker of where you now live.
Return to the Utah Valley PAF Users Group Home Page ,
or Don's
Class Listings Page .