Selected Maps, Gazetteers and Geographical Resources

Links on this page go to external web sites.

Last reviewed: March 18, 2004

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Current Maps

Alexandria Digital Library Gazetteer
Gazetteer searchable by keyword and/or feature type.
http://testbed.alexandria.ucsb.edu/gazclient/index.jsp

Library of Congress Geography and Map Reading Room
Includes history and background of the Geography and Map Division, bibliographies and finding aids. "Digital Collections" includes online maps from 1500-2003 (covering cities and towns, conservation and environment, discovery and exploration, cultural landscapes, military battles and campaigns, and transportation and communication).
http://www.loc.gov/rr/geogmap/

Map Machine
National Geographic Society's site providing political and physical maps and information for places anywhere in the world. Categories include conservation, astronomy, world and information for educators.
http://www.nationalgeographic.com/maps

Maptech
Contains USGS (U.S. Geological Survey) topographic maps, NOAA (National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration) nautical and aeronautical charts and aerial photographs. Search by place name, zipcode, map/chart name or number or latitude and longitude.
http://mapserver.maptech.com/

National Atlas of the United States of America
This site includes a collection of interactive, multimedia and printed maps from the United States Department of the Interior.
http://www.nationalatlas.gov/

National Park Service Cartographic Resources
Visitor use maps include maps of National Parks, National Park System and the American Revolution. Site also contains 3-D maps of selected National Parks. Maps are available in Adobe Acrobat or Adobe Illustrator and sometimes jpeg format.
http://www.nps.gov/carto/data.html

Perry-Castañeda Library Map Collection
Browsable maps of countries of the world, both current and historical, derived from the CIA, U.S. Bureau of the Census and other major sources. Compiled by the University of Texas at Austin.
http://www.lib.utexas.edu/Libs/PCL/Map_collection/Map_collection.html

Terraserver
Contains high resolution USGS (U.S. Geological Survey) topographic maps and aerial imagery. Navigate using map or search by address, geographic coordinates or place.
http://terraserver.microsoft.com/

TopoZone
Interactive USGS (U.S. Geological Survey) topographic maps of the United States. Search by place name, Universal Transverse Mercator coordinates or latitude/longitude. Maps are printable.
http://www.topozone.com

General

Geographic Information and Analysis Lab
Portal for geography resources, including state, federal and commercial sites, compiled by State University of New York at Buffalo. Categorized by U.S. federal resources, U.S. commercial resources, U.S. state information, and global information.
http://www.geog.buffalo.edu/GIAL/netgeog.html

Map History Gateway
Bibliography of historical map websites. Site created by former British Library Map Librarian, Tony Campbell. Categories include conferences and talks, exhibitions, globes, image sites, journals, map collecting, map collections, map societies, news (sources), researchers, thefts, and web projects. Site includes searchable index.
http://www.maphistory.info/index.html

Oddens' Bookmarks
Site created by Roelof Oddens, map curator at Utrecht University. Contains over 21,000 cartographic links. Browse by category or search by keyword, country and/or category.
http://oddens.geog.uu.nl/index.html

Geographic Information Systems (GIS) and Geographic Data

CUGIR
Cornell University's site is part of the National Spatial Data Clearinghouse program. Contains geospatial data and metadata for New York State. Select information by map or name or search CUGIR's database. Filters are also available to narrow your selection (data provider, category and series).
http://cugir.mannlib.cornell.edu/

Geodata
Federal government site contains links to government data in a variety of categories, such as administrative boundaries, atmosphere, cadastral, elevation, oceans and more. Data is searchable. Also contains a Quick Start Guide on using the site and information on current events in mapping.
http://www.geodata.gov

Geographic Information from St. Charles City-County Library District
Portal for maps, U.S. government and state sources, reference sources in GIS, and tutorials. Categorized by general information, maps and images, states and universities, government agencies, international GIS sites, commercial sites/organizations, GIS tutorial, and comprehensive/interesting sites.
http://www.win.org/library/services/gis/gishp.htm

GIS.com
Internet guide to Geographic Information Systems contains explanation of GIS. Includes information about GIS data, software and education.
http://www.gis.com

GIS Portal
Contains links to various GIS-related sites, including government agencies, software companies, colleges and universities and mapping companies. Also contains links to information on GIS jobs, data, online GIS and more.
http://www.gisportal.com/

New York State GIS Clearinghouse
Site includes GIS data, orthoimagery, raster imagery, NYS GIS Help Desk and other resources. Data is provided through the GIS Data Sharing Cooperative. Some data is restricted to Cooperative members.
http://www.nysgis.state.ny.us/

U.S. Census Bureau Geography
Provides mapping products and services, geography resources, geographic programs. Links to many downloadable documents. Includes TIGER products, online mapping, geographic resources, geographic programs, understanding census geography and GIS.
http://www.census.gov/geo/www/index.html

Historic Maps

David Rumsey Historical Map Collection
Contains over 8,000 18th and 19th century maps of North and South America, Europe, Asia and Africa. Maps are easily accessible through the Insight Browser. Search by country, state/province, publication author, keywords or data field. More advanced users can use the Insight Java Client or GIS Browser.
http://www.davidrumsey.com/

Historic Cities
Contains maps of historic cities all over the world, from Aachen to Zurich. Browse by city name, year or map maker.
http://historic-cities.huji.ac.il/historic_cities.html

Historic USGS Maps
Contains historic USGS (U.S. Geological Survey) maps of New England, including New York. Access maps using the quadrangle index , town index or image map.
http://docs.unh.edu/nhtopos/nhtopos.htm

Historical Map and Chart Project
Historical nautical charts available from NOAA (National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration). Search by keyword, region, type, year and/or chart number.
http://historicals.ncd.noaa.gov/historicals/histmap.asp

Library of Congress Geography and Map Division
Contains digital images of over 100 maps in the Geography and Map Division of the Library of Congress. Maps are easily accessible through the Insight Browser. Search by country, state/province, publication author, keywords or data field. More advanced users can use the Insight Java Client. Includes link to Maplibraries.com which contains maps in the Library of Congress Map Collection and David Rumsey Historical Map Collection.
http://loc.maplibraries.com/

Map Machine
National Geographic Society's site providing political and physical maps and information for places anywhere in the world. Categories include New York Underground, Pearl Harbor and Lewis and Clark.
http://www.nationalgeographic.com/maps

National Atlas of the United States of America
Site includes a collection of interactive, multimedia, and printed maps from the United States Department of the Interior. Includes Presidential Election maps, 1789-2000.
http://www.nationalatlas.gov/

US Digital Map Library
USGenWeb Project site contains digital state and county maps, United States maps and Indian land cession maps.
http://www.rootsweb.com/~usgenweb/maps/

Interactive Maps

Cornell Interactive Mapping and Data Analysis Tools
Choose from data sets in geography, geology, geophysics, images/grids and more. Includes metadata. Map extent can be changed and features can be identified.
http://atlas.geo.cornell.edu/ima.html

Harvard Geospatial Library
Select a base map (North America, world data or HGL). Zoom in on an area for more detail (new layers appear as you zoom in). Metadata and data set titles can be searched using keywords.
http://hgl.harvard.edu/jsps/basemap.jsp

Your Sky: Interactive Planetarium
Create sky maps for any time and date, viewpoint, and observing location.
http://www.fourmilab.ch/yoursky/

New York State Maps

Early New York State Maps
Contains links to digital images of maps of New York State from 1500s-1800s. Arranged chronologically.
http://www.sunysb.edu/libmap/nymaps.htm

Map NY
Contains census tract/town level maps and county level maps. Choose a category and then a variable to create your map. Maps are printable.
http://www.albany.edu/mumford/mapny/

Bibliography of 19th Century New York State Maps
Annotated bibliography contains history of New York cartography in the nineteenth century, list of selected reference works and bibliography of selected maps (dated 1793-1900) owned by the New York State Library. Maps are listed by date or author/publisher. Keyword index is included. The New York State Library's extensive New York State historical map collection can be searched at http://nysl.nysed.gov .
http://www.nysl.nysed.gov/msscfa/mapsbibl.htm

New York City Digital Atlas
Digital atlas of New York City organized by topic. Topics include population and race, ancestry, income and poverty, adult educational attainment, household types and commuters.
http://130.166.124.2/NYpage1.html

New York State Legislative Task Force on Demographic Research and Reapportionment
Includes 2002 and 1992 legislative district maps for the United States Congress (New York only), New York State Assembly and New York State Senate. Contains statewide and individual district maps in pdf format.
http://latfor.state.ny.us/maps

New York State Maps
Map pathfinder contains links to digital images of maps of New York State. Includes early maps (pre-1800), panoramic maps, nineteenth century maps and twentieth century maps. Searchable database of the pathfinder is also available.
http://www.sunysb.edu/libmap/nypath1.htm

Place Names and Geographic Features

Geographic Names Information System
Geographic Names Information System (GNIS) contains names of physical and cultural geographic features in the United States and its territories. Also contains links to information about foreign geographic features. State and topical gazetteers are available for download.
http://geonames.usgs.gov/

Place Names on the Internet
Portal for place name servers, arranged in U.S., world, country and planetary sections. Compiled by Arizona State University Libraries.
http://www.asu.edu/lib/hayden/govdocs/maps/geogname.htm

U.S. Gazetteer
Search for places listed in the U.S. Census. Search by name or zipcode. Results include links to Tiger maps and 1990 Census STF1A and STF3A tables.
http://www.census.gov/cgi-bin/gazetteer

U.S. State Department - Independent States of the World
Independent states with diplomatic relations with U.S. and member of United Nations. Country capitals, names, and FIPS codes. Includes link to GEOnet Names Server (GNS).
http://www.state.gov/www/regions/independent_states.html

Road Maps and Driving Directions

EarthaMaps
Offers two map services: enter a place name and retrieve a map (CyberAtlas) or enter two place names and retrieve a trip itinerary and map.
http://www.earthamaps.com

MapQuest
Directions and maps for towns and cities worldwide.
http://www.mapquest.com

Maps.com
Includes maps for driving directions in the U.S., world maps, antique maps, digital map graphics, world atlas, weather center and time zone map, online map games, interactive maps, geographic glossary, Earthweek (a diary for the planet), travel deals, and more. Also provides cartographic services for specialized needs.
http://www.maps.com/

Maps on Us
Contains road maps, driving directions and yellow pages.
http://www.mapsonus.com/

Topographic Maps

Maptech
Contains USGS (U.S. Geological Survey) topographic maps, NOAA (National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration) nautical and aeronautical charts and aerial photographs. Search by place name, zip code, map/chart name or number or latitude and longitude.
http://mapserver.maptech.com/

New York State GIS Clearinghouse - Topographic Maps
Topographic maps accessible via map, quadrangle name, USGS (U.S. Geological Survey) code or DOT (Department of Transportation) code. Includes orthoimagery.
http://www.nysgis.state.ny.us/raster.htm

TopoZone
Interactive USGS (U.S. Geological Survey) topographic maps of the United States. Search by place name, UTM coordinates or latitude/longitude. Maps are printable.
http://www.topozone.com

Last Updated: June 2, 2009

New York State Library