Sanborn Fire Insurance Maps are among the most remarkable historical maps ever produced in the United States. At first glance, they may look like ordinary…
When we think of seventeenth-century cartographers, names such as Willem Blaeu, Joan Blaeu, Nicolas Sanson, and John Speed usually come to mind. These men produced…
The Library of Congress website can initially seem overwhelming because it contains millions of digital items across many collections. The key is to begin with…
For anyone fascinated by maps, few online resources are as rewarding as the Library of Congress digital map collections. What was once accessible primarily to…
Maps are often treated as neutral instruments. They measure distances, record boundaries, locate cities, and give us a visual framework for understanding the world. Yet…
Before the advent of color printing, Geographic Information Systems (GIS), and digital publishing, maps owed much of their beauty, and often their usefulness, to the…
The 1962 U.S. Geological Survey (U.S.G.S.) map of Mars, better known as the 1962 Mars Map, is a fascinating piece of planetary cartographic history. Here’s…
Introduction Ptolemy’s Geography is a seminal work in the history of cartography and geographical thought. Written in the 2nd century CE, this work by Claudius…
There are two main ways to create a custom map in Google Maps, depending on what you want to do: Option 1: Create a Custom…
During the sixteenth century, no map in Europe was more valuable or more closely guarded, than Spain’s Padrón Real (Royal Standard Map). At a time…