Year: 2014

Free Historical Topo Maps Help Local & Family History Researchers Understand the Past

If you are looking for old maps on the Delmarva Peninsula, or anywhere in the nation, be sure to check out U.S. Topo Maps.  These valuable research tools show physical and cultural features of the landscape and contours of the land, beginning in the 1880s when the topographic program began.  Because the sheets are regularly issued, they are useful for tracing historical developments through time and for locating cemeteries, churches, roads, and other features.

Products run to current times as updates are now issued every three years.  And recently the U.S. Geological Survey announced that the newer ones have a crisper, cleaning design, which enhances readability for online and for print use.  This improvement process is ongoing but according to a press release redesigned sheets have been released for Maryland and Delaware.  All these resources are available for free download.

The place to start is with the national map locator.  On that site, a search for Wilmington, Delaware indicates that there is a cluster of over 20 products, starting in 1905 and running to the present.  Dover’s sheets begin in 1899, while those for Chesterton start in 1898.  You should find similar results for your interests as you search the products.

Check out the national map locator and downloader as there are lots of digital products there to help you with your local and family history research.   For a broader collection of works beyond topo maps, don’t for get to visit Old Maps Online, another excellent source.

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The U.S.G.S. Map Locator.
Part of the 1931 map of the Middletown and Odessa area from the U.S. Geological Survey.
Part of the 1931 map of the Middletown and Odessa area from the U.S. Geological Survey.

Digital Public Library of America Announces Second Class of Community Reps

The Digital Public Library of America (DPLA) is a free online library that provides access to millions of historical documents, public domain works, vintage photographs, maps, audiovisuals, and more from libraries, archives, and museums across the United States.
In one place a visitor is able to easily find items from a wide range of institutions. The one year old nonprofit has Community Representatives helping DPLA with outreach. I am pleased to be asked to join the second class and have the opportunity to help grow DPLA’s community of users and followers, while serving as an advocate for open access to the nation’s cultural resources.
Click here to reach the DPLA announcement about the new class of community reps. 

 

Online Historic Aerial Maps Aid Delaware Researchers

Aerial maps of Delaware, spanning from 1937 to the present, are available in an online digital archives maintained by the Delaware Environmental Monitoring and Analysis Center.  Initially captured during flights flown over the region, the photography shows what the region looked like at various points.  Typically termed orthophotography once the data has been geocorrected, the pictures were used in local map making.

This virtual service is helpful to local history researchers and genealogists.  It allows investigators to easily acquire detailed visual representations showing the nature of development of parcels for a period of over a century, which is a valuable tool for finding old homes, cemeteries, roads, streams and much more.  It is also a strong source for studying the evolution of communities and rural areas throughout the 20th century.

Simply by clicking the mouse on the desired sector of the map, the virtual visitor has access to aerial images.  They show how the land appeared in 1937, 1954, 1961, 1968, 1992, 1997, 2002, 2007, and 2010

Here is the link to the homepage with instructions.

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Part of the aerial map of Hartly, Delaware, 1968. Source: The Delaware Environmental Monitoring and Analysis Center

Old U.S. Geological Survey Images from Delaware, Maryland and Virginia Online

The U. S. Geological Survey (USGS) Photographic Library in Denver, CO has a helpful collection of digitized photographs available for researchers.  These images, beginning in 1868, provide a visual history of the discovery, development and science of the United States and its Geological Survey.  There are over 400,000 pictures in the collection and some have been used in USGS publications.  But most were never published.

Currently about 10-percent of the collection is digitized.  Keyword searches show that there are dozens of images from Maryland, a number from the Eastern Shore of Virginia, and some from Delaware presently available on the web.  In addition, there are many visual attractive and fascinating pictures from all across the nation, such as Main Street in Cheyenne, Wyoming in 1869.

Here is the link.

A 1920 photo of a concrete downstate Delaware Road. Source: United States Geological Survey
A 1920 photo of a concrete downstate Delaware Road. Source: United States Geological Survey
An undated photo of the B & O Railroad Bridge across the Susquehanna. Source: United States Geological Survey
An undated photo of the B & O Railroad Bridge across the Susquehanna. Source: United States Geological Survey