Early Maps | Special Groups Of Historical Maps | Board of Public Works Maps |
Civil War Maps | Chesapeake and Ohio Company Railroad Maps |
United States Geological Survey (U.S.G.S.) Maps |
Support Materials | Access | Gifts
The Map Collection in the Library of Virginia originated from the books and archival materials acquired for official use in the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries. Although we have maps that were printed as single items, many of the maps are part of state agency records and are more fully understood with the accompanying documents. Other maps in the collection are parts of reports and enclosures to letters and petitions. The main strengths of the collection are the maps of Virginia and its political subdivisions and those series of maps of importance to the Commonwealth that we have received as a state agency.
The Map Collection contains more than 60,000 items and includes general historical maps (manuscript, printed, and photocopies of Virginia maps from other collections), special groups of historical maps, United States Geological Survey (U.S.G.S.) topographic quadrangles, drawings, and plans. The collection also has microfilm copies of the early series of U.S.G.S. Virginia topographic quadrangles; two series of Sanborn Fire Insurance maps for Virginia (from the Library of Congress and from the Sanborn Fire Insurance Map Company Archives); and selected nineteenth-century Virginia maps in the Library of Congress on microfiche. Since Virginia is not a public land state, there are no land-ownership maps. However, there are some maps that show residences. Modern tax maps can be found in records at local courthouses.
Principal maps of Virginia include the John Smith map (1612), the Augustine Herrman map (1673), the Fry-Jefferson map (1751/1754, 1755, and 1775), the John Henry map (1770), the Bishop Madison map (1807/1818), and the state maps of 1827 and 1859 produced by the Virginia Board of Public Works. The collection includes the 1819 copperplate used in the reprint of John Smith's Generall Historie of Virginia, eight of the nine original copperplates for the 1827/1859 state map and all four of the copperplates for the reduced version of the map, and the three copperplates used to print the U.S.G.S. Wytheville quadrangle to 1927.
Although not part of the map collection, records of the Virginia Land Office contain plats of land granted within the Northern Neck Proprietary during the colonial period and of Virginia after the Revolutionary War. Consult the Virginia Land Office Inventory by Daphne S. Gentry (revised and enlarged by John S. Salmon, 3d edition, Richmond: Virginia State Library and Archives, 1981) for a detailed description of the records. Plats of land and property may also be found in county records, often the only source for pre-Revolutionary surveys, and various other records such as the Mutual Assurance Society records and the Legislative Petitions. There also are small groups of maps in the Personal Papers collection. For some localities, however, there are only a few maps in the collection.
It should be noted that the levels of detail and accuracy of maps vary, depending on the equipment, technology, and expertise available at the time a particular map was made. Use to be made of the map especially dictated the amount of detail required. Military maps, commercial atlases (such as the F. W. Beers 1876 atlas of the city of Richmond), and fire insurance maps (such as those of the Mutual Assurance Society and Sanborn Fire Insurance Company) are highly detailed.
Primary users of the map collection include historians, historical geographers, state agencies concerned with roads and surveys, individuals researching the legality of state and county boundaries, genealogists, individuals searching for historic sites, historic preservationists, archaeologists, the United States Board on Geographic Names and those interested in locating Civil War events and places.
Maps are also found in the book collection of the Library, many of which are located in the Rare Book Room. Atlases can be accessed through the online catalog, and many current atlases have been placed in the Map Research Room and the East Reading Room. The United States Congressional Serial Set, on microfiche, contains many maps that accompany government reports and an index to these maps is located in the State and Federal Documents Room. The Maps on File series, located in the East Reading Room, provides copyright-free outline maps. Geology maps, soil surveys, Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) maps, Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) maps and National Park Service (NPS) maps are received as part of the agency's federal and state depository programs.
Many of the seventeenth and eighteenth-century maps in the collection consist of printed maps that appeared in atlases. The decoration in these maps, including the area within the cartouche (an enclosed decorative area usually containing title, author and related information), and the use of color reflect the history and culture of the creator. Many of these maps are oriented with north to the right, representing the view of those approaching the land from the sea.
As new lands were discovered and claimed, maps were used to encourage Europeans to settle in distant lands. Maps also served as vehicles for contemporary political and economic attitudes, and conflicting land claims were reflected on maps by showing boundary disputes and holdings by particular countries. The next step in mapping the New World involved constructing maps to reflect the division and ownership of lands within given boundaries.
The accuracy of these early maps ranges from the earliest crude maps, based primarily on the reports and charts of expeditions, to the more accurate and detailed maps of the mid-eighteenth century, which were constructed by professional surveyors with appropriate instruments and methods.
Special Groups Of Historical Maps
Board of Public Works Maps
The maps generated by the Board of Public Works, beginning in 1816, comprise one of our finest collections. The board was established to encourage internal improvements in the state, and Virginia was one of the first states to have such a program. These maps consist of more than 500 titles (900 sheets) of surveys and maps, primarily manuscript, generated in the development of turnpikes, canals, and railroads. They also include the county maps created by John Wood and Herman Boye from 1819 to 1825 in response to an act of the legislature. Ultimately, Wood and Boye completed 102 county maps. The collection includes copies of all known maps in this series: thirty-eight original Wood-Boye county maps and photocopies of nine other original maps, which are presently located in various repositories and courthouses. These neatly done maps have invaluable information on the location of historic structures, including mills, taverns, ferries, ironworks, churches, roads, and private dwellings. Created prior to the construction of Boye's 1827 state map, the county maps form the base for that map and for the 1859 edition, which was corrected by Lewis von Buchholtz.
These maps are often used in conjunction with the Board of Public Works records, of which they are a part. Researchers are sometimes able to have a better understanding of a project, decision or situation with both the maps and the documents at hand. Researchers will want to consult the published guide, Board of Public Works Inventory, compiled by John S. Salmon (Richmond: Virginia State Library, 1978; 2d ed., The Library of Virginia, 1996).
Civil War Maps
Military maps have a need for great detail. How thick are the forests? Where are the roads? Exactly where can a river or creek be crossed to the best advantage? These are the questions that a military map must answer. The successful outcome of a conflict often depended on a good map, and railroads, buildings, some residences and lines of defense were also noted.
Civil War maps were constructed before or during maneuvers, and when produced afterwards, they served as documentation of the event. The maps we have that were created for a Civil War atlas published after the war depict the latter category.
Both the National Archives and the Library of Congress guides to Civil War maps in their collections are located in the Map Research Room. (Civil War Maps: An Annotated List of Maps and Atlases in the Library of Congress, 2d ed., compiled by Richard W. Stephenson [Washington, D.C.: Library of Congress, 1989]; A Guide to Civil War Maps in the National Archives, 2d ed. [Washington, D.C.: The National Archives, 1986])
Chesapeake and Ohio Company Railroad Maps
The collection of about 200 maps and plans (more than 1,800 sheets) of the Chesapeake and Ohio Railroad Company covers the period from 1836 to 1943 and depicts the railroad routes along the James River and Kanawha Canal towpaths; surveys of routes through the towns of Charlottesville, Lynchburg, Richmond, and Hampton; plats of railroad depots and private property condemned for the use of the railroad; and surveys of branch line routes. This series of maps is valuable to canal historians, as well as those interested in the railroad and those looking for specific places and property owners along the James River. An unpublished finding aid is available in the Map Research Room.
United States Geological Survey (U.S.G.S.) Maps
By far the largest series of maps in the collection are the U.S.G.S. topographic quadrangle maps. More than 800 uses have been determined for these maps. The maps combine both natural and cultural features as well as being inexpensive and readily available. Primary users include engineers, foresters, geologists, city and state planners, and those who have recreational interests such as hiking and camping. U.S.G.S. maps serve as the base map for other data and feature overlays, such as geology maps. Our collection dates from the late 1880s, when the first quadrangles were produced for Virginia. The mapping project began in 1882 with creation of the U.S. Geological Survey, whose main purpose was to map the United States through these standardized quadrangles.
Viewing a quadrangle is like seeing the land from the air, and comparing current editions with earlier ones quickly shows the amount and direction of growth in an area. Houses, churches, airports, roads, railroads, bridges, cemeteries, elevation by contours, latitude and longitude, and even the bench marks used as reference points, are indicated.
The map collection presently receives quadrangles for Virginia and the contiguous states of Kentucky, Maryland, North Carolina, Tennessee, and West Virginia, as well as Washington, D.C. The Library no longer receives, but does maintain, quadrangles of several other states. Indexes are available to help researchers select the quadrangle needed. Guides to the use of topographic maps and to the collection of more than 200 late-nineteenth and early-twentieth-century U.S.G.S. geologic atlas folios are available in the Map Research Room. A helpful resource is Geographic and Cultural Names in Virginia by Thomas H. Biggs, Information Circular 20, (Charlottesville: Virginia Division of Mineral Resources, 1974). This publication is keyed to Virginia's topographic maps by place-name, water and land features, and religious institutions.
Several periodicals relating to maps are available to Library of Virginia researchers. These include The Map Collector, a well illustrated and informative quarterly journal, published in Great Britain until 1996; Meridian, a publication of the American Library Association; Mapline, a short, but useful publication of the Newberry Library in Chicago; and Mercator’s World, which began publishing in 1996.
A selected bibliography of map resources, primarily related to Virginia maps, is also available upon request. Subjects include map history and identification, conservation, books relating to county boundaries and place names, periodicals and related Library of Virginia publications. Many of these books are located in the Map Research Room for reference use.
Dr. Earl Gregg Swem's descriptive list of Maps Relating to Virginia in the Virginia State Library and Other Departments of the Commonwealth with the 17th and 18th Century Atlas-Maps in the Library of Congress, which appeared in the Bulletin of the Virginia State Library (Vol. 7, April, July 1914), is still considered the basic resource to Virginia maps, describing maps that relate to Virginia through April 1914 and West Virginia through 1863. Some of the maps, however, have not been located, and some are in collections other than ours; thus the primary value of this work lies in the bibliographical information it provides.
Arrangement. The collection is arranged by geographical area using a numerical system, beginning with world maps and becoming more specific through regions and states. For Virginia, the maps are arranged by region, and the counties are placed under the region to which they belong. A limited subject file follows a chronological file in each section of the card catalog in the Map Research Room, and it is to one's advantage to check both files. Selected maps are now being entered into RLIN, a nationwide database.
Serving/Handling. Preservation is the primary concern in the management of the map collection. Oversize materials are difficult to handle, and problems of excessive size and fragility are common to loose maps whose entire surfaces are exposed to light, temperature and humidity extremes.
Maps are served in the Map Research Room one at a time. Only pencils can be used to take notes, and tracing is not permitted. Do not take notes on top of maps or any documents. Researchers must not place items on the map or lean on it. Original maps are not served if a photocopy, microfiche or microfilm is available, unless the researcher has the permission of the supervising archivist.
Copying. Maps no longer under copyright (over seventy-five years old) can be copied by Photographic Services if they are in stable condition. Photographic (color and black-and-white) and photostatic copies are available of most maps in our collection. Maps under 11 x 17 inches can be reproduced on a photocopier while you wait, if they are in stable condition. Color / black-and-white ink jet scans are also available for items under 24x34 inches, and color / black-and-white dye-sublimation prints(8x10 inches) can be made from transparencies. A price list is available upon request.
The Library welcomes additions to the map collection. Maps of Virginia and its political subdivisions that were drawn or printed before 1900, maps that reflect the development of the Commonwealth (e.g., roads, canals, railroads), maps of the southeastern and mid-Atlantic areas, and selected post-1900 maps are of special interest.
Compiled by Marianne Miller McKee
Revised November 1999