Research Guides: History Research Guide: Maps

Digitized map collections

Library of Congress - Map Collections
A selection from the 4.5 million maps in the Library of Congress' collections.
Barry Lawrence Ruderman Collection - Stanford University
Includes almost 20,000 high-quality digitized images of maps sold by map dealer Barry Ruderman in a searchable database.
David Rumsey Map Collection
Over 46,000 maps and images. Focused on rare 18th and 19th century North American and South American maps and other cartographic materials. Historic maps of the World, Europe, Asia, and Africa are also represented.
Texas Maps - Perry Castaneda Map Library - University of Texas at Austin
Digitized versions of a selection of maps from one of the country's most important map collections.
The National Map: Historical Topographic Map Collection - US Geological Survey
High-resolution scans of more than 178,000 historical topographic maps of the United States.
Old Maps Online - University of Portsmouth, UK
The Old Maps Online Portal is an easy-to-use gateway to historical maps in libraries around the world. It allows the user to search for online digital historical maps across numerous different collections via a geographical search.

Maps as Primary Sources

Amérique septentrionale / by N. Sanson Paris : Chez l'Auteur et chez Pierre Mariette, 1650.

Maps are valuable primary source materials, because they don't just show a geographic location "as it was". They show how that location was seen and interpreted by the mapmaker. Maps can be analyzed for what is included, what is missing, what is emphasized, what is incorrect or incomplete, what might be an invention of the cartographer, and so on.

History Research Guide:Maps

Digitized map collections

Maps as Primary Sources