ARTICLE - Using Maps For Family History Research. By Shirley C Hodges

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Using Maps For Family History Research
Column published: 14 February 2008
By: Shirley Gage Hodges Biography & Archived Articles

The family genealogist often wants to find a map that will show where an ancestor was born, lived, fought in a war, owned property or died. Maps are one of the many avenues of research available to the genealogist. Sometimes maps aren't used as much as they should be because most folks don't realize what a treasure trove of information is hidden in these sources. To truly understand our ancestors we must learn how and where they lived. Using maps can help us fill in the details between the cradle and the rocking chair and tell the complete story of our ancestor's lives.

To really understand our ancestors we need to learn about the geographical locations that they lived in. The place that they lived in isn't just a speck on a map. We have to understand how the geographic area they lived in may have influenced where they went to church and where they went to record their births and marriages. A natural feature such as a river or mountain may have greatly influenced their decisions.

Stated rather simplistically, a map is a picture or representation of the Earth's surface, showing how things are related to each other by distance, direction, and size. Maps are a way of showing many things about a portion of the earth's surface on a flat piece of paper that can be carried and transported easily.

No one map can contain all known information about a given part of the earth's surface. The researcher should search for the best map to suit their purpose.

Different types of maps:

fire insurance maps (eg: Goad Fire Ins. Maps - Canada; Sanborn Fire Ins. Maps - USA )
geological survey maps
historical maps
physical maps
plat maps
romance maps
shaded relief maps
thematic maps
topographic maps

Web pages for Maps and Directories:

City Directories of the United States
Getty Thesaurus of Geographic Names
Map of North America, 1763
13 Colonies Map
Get a Map Online OS maps for the UK, which can be downloaded. Largest scale is 1:25,000.
Google Earth focuses on satellite imagery, with map data as optional overlays. (Also offers a small selection of historical maps.)
Google Maps provides maps and aerial photographs at various scales, plus a map/photo hybrid.
Multimap Online maps cover Great Britain and Ireland; aerial photographs provided by Getmapping cover England and Wales.
Streetmap Online street and road maps for the whole of mainland Britain. The largest scale shows street names.
Windows Live (local search) provides maps, aerial photographs (with or without street names) and bird's-eye views for metropolitan areas.

Until next time :)

Shirley Hodges hodgessj@hotmail.com
President, Genealogical Speakers Guild

To read back issues of Shirley Hodges' articles, visit her biography & archived Articles

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