US Maps, Locations, Counties, and Directions for Genealogy
City and county line boundaries have moved over time. Street names have been changed and landmarks have been moved or torn down. Railway lines have moved and been removed. Looking at a map dated the time your ancestor lived in a town can help you find churches to locate records, help you locate cemeteries to find family graves, and help you locate county boundary movement to search for appropriate government records. Reading historical maps help give context to better understand an ancestor's life.
Historical Maps of the United States
- US Historic Map Collections
Custom Search by Ancestor SearchLoadingSearch for U.S. historic maps by state, county, or city
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US Map Collections:
1500-2004
Search for US state or town in the Library of Congress Collection
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US Historical Map Collection
Directory of historical maps listed by US city.
- Atlas of Historical County Boundaries"
The Atlas of Historical County Boundaries shows animated boundary changes in all 50 states. Select any date and display the county configuration for that date. se to determine the county for cenus by year.
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U.S. Historic Topographic Maps
Enter town to search for town features such as cemetery, church or mine or search for the many natural features. Results include county and coordinates that can be used on maps on GPS for exact locations
Sanborn Maps
The Sanborn Fire Insurance Map Company began publishing maps in 1867 U.S. cities and towns for the fire insurance industry. The maps are large scale and show the structures in the area.- Sanborn Insurance Maps
The Library of Congress offers the Sanborn Fire Insurance Maps Online Checklist which provides a searchable database of the fire insurance maps housed in their collections. Not all maps listed in their collection are online.
- List of Sanborn maps Detailed color maps in over 12,000 towns and cities in the United States to assist fire insurance companies in setting rates and terms. Today, we can use the maps to locate the residences and work places of ancestors.
- Alabama
- California
- Colorado
- Florida
- Georgia
- Hawaii
- Indiana
- Kentucky
- Kentucky
- Louisiana
- Massachusetts
- Missouri
- Montana
- Nebraska
- Nevada
- New Jersey
- New York City
- North Carolina
- Ohio
- Oregon
- Pennsylvania
- South Carolina
- Texas
- Utah
- Virginia
Additional US Maps Collections
- 1895 U.S. Atlas
- American Geographical Society Digital Map Collection
- Assorted maps from the Library of Congress
- Panoramic city maps from the Library of Congress
- Broer Map Library
- David Rumsey Historical Map Collection
- Library of Congress: American Memory Map Collection
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National Geographic Map Machine
Current Maps of the United States
- United States Feature Finder
Click on the town name on the results page to see map. Maps show current streets, cemetery, school and other landmark locations. GeoNames integrates geographical data such as names of places with elevation, population and other data.
- Google Search by Location
- Sanborn Insurance Maps
The Library of Congress offers the Sanborn Fire Insurance Maps Online Checklist which provides a searchable database of the fire insurance maps housed in their collections. Not all maps listed in their collection are online.