maps

ONLINE MAPS FOR FAMILY HISTORY

©2008 by Donald R. Snow
Sections of the Class Notes

Welcome and Introduction to Class
Overview of Maps, Gazetteers, and Atlases
Map Technology
Some Online Map Collections
Assignment

This page was last updated 2008-03-12.
Return to the Hyde Park Family History Centre Home Page or the Events Page or the Utah Valley PAF Users Group Home Page or Don's Class Listings Page .

WELCOME AND INTRODUCTION TO CLASS

Instructors are Elder and Sister Donald R. and Diane M. Snow of the England London Mission, Hyde Park Family History Centre ( snowd@math.byu.edu , dms34@juno.com )
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 , and are linked on the Hyde Park Family History Centre website http://www.hydeparkfhc.org under Events. Many other class notes for family history are linked on both sites 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
Some 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 maps to find or show names of features

Articles about maps

On http://www.familysearch.org

For general information about maps go to Search, then Research Helps or Research Guidance and look for Maps
For particular countries go to Search, then Research Helps, find the country, go to the Research Outline, e.g. England Research Outline, and look for the topic Maps
To find everything the FamilySearch website has on, for example, London maps, do a Google search for "maps london site:www.familysearch.org" (without the quotes)
United States: How to Find and Use a Map under Research Guidance

Maps in The National Archives (UK) -- http://www.nationalarchives.gov.uk/catalogue/RdLeaflet.asp?sLeafletID=304
Ancestry.com articles on maps and mapping
Using Maps In Genealogy -- http://erg.usgs.gov/isb/pubs/factsheets/fs09902.html -- U.S. Geological Survey

Gazetteers -- books and websites describing places in words including history and geography of the place

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
Online 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/
MapInfo Full Gazetteer of Great Britain (commercial) -- http://extranet.mapinfo.com/products/Overview.cfm?productid=304
Cassell's Gazetteer of Great Britain and Ireland on http://www.worldvitalrecords.com/indexinfo.aspx?ix=qcd14_ireindexmaps
FamilySearchWiki Gazetteer of Wales -- http://www.familysearchwiki.org/u-s-and-canada/wales/wales-gazetteers
Curious Fox Gazetteer and queries on all villages in the UK and Ireland -- http://www.curiousfox.org.uk/

Phillimore's Atlas of Parish Registers -- see http://genealogypro.com/articles/ik-ire-tips.html

MAP TECHNOLOGY

GPS's (Global Positioning Systems) -- devices to help you find and keep track of locations, e.g. cemetery plots so someone else can find them later
Creating a personalized Google map -- http://maps.google.com/

Click on Maps/Sign in/My Maps, then view or create new map
Can make maps for important locations and events, individual or family migration, travels
Info on posting a Google map on a website -- http://googlemapsapi.blogspot.com/2008/02/google-maps-without-scripting.html

Some mapping programs

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
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 -- http://terraserver.com/ and http://terraserver-usa.com/
Satellite Photo Images -- http://www.satsig.net/maps/satellite-photo-image-viewer.htm
Satellite Sightseer -- http://www.satellite-sightseer.com/

SOME ONLINE MAP COLLECTIONS

Do a Google search for [country, county, or state] + map on http://www.google.com , e.g. England + map gives millions of hits
Cyndi's List -- http://cyndislist.com/ -- see links under Maps, Gazetteers, and Geographical Information at http://www.cyndislist.com/maps.htm
Mapquest -- http://www.mapquest.com/ -- maps and driving directions
U.K. maps

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 Judrisdiction 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/

U.S. maps

U.S. Geological Survey -- Geographic Names Information System (GNIS) -- http://geonames.usgs.gov/pls/gnis/web_query.gnis_web_query_form -- U.S. places, includes cities, rivers
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 and http://memory.loc.gov/ammem/gmdhtml/
Growth of U.S. -- 10-minute online video (http://www.animatedatlas.com/movie2.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.com/~usgenweb/maps/utah/
LDS Church history maps including the Westward Movement of the LDS Church in the U.S. -- http://scriptures.lds.org/en/chmaps/contents

Worldwide

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
List of Maps on FamilySearch.org
Education Place, Link Library (bottom right), search for maps --http://www.eduplace.com -- shows 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

Surname distribution maps

Surname distribution maps in U.S. -- http://hamrick.com/names/
Surname mapping in Germany -- http://christoph.stoepel.net/geogen/en/Default.aspx

ASSIGNMENT

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 Hyde Park Family History Centre Home Page or the Events Page or the Utah Valley PAF Users Group Home Page or Don's Class Listings Page .