Have you ever seen your county's historical map? Are you aware of the wealth of historical information that it contains? Perfect for anyone with an interest in the past, a wealth of facts can be found on almost all locality maps of this kind. The most elaborate county maps were usually drawn in the period 1860-1880, though many counties were also recorded in later editions. Extremely useful to genealogists and historians of all kinds, most of the
old maps you will find here are called "landowner" maps. These maps are literally covered by the names of the individuals who owned land, showing who was where and when ~ a dream for any genealogist. These Victorian era county maps are best known for their impressive lithographic illustrations of local scenes. These maps represent the county's coming of age, when it became prosperous enough to afford this kind of documentation. Most of the lithographic views were "subscribed," that is, local farmers and merchants paid to have their properties appear on the map. The maps also often featured views of public places, such as cemeteries, courthouses, and city halls, as well as occasional startling "bird's-eye views" of large areas. Many of these maps also include a wide spectrum of additional information including but not limited to: