Mining the Maps in the Library of Congress

Genealogists love libraries! And our country’s biggest, best library is the Library of Congress in Washington, D.C. This incredible national treasure acquires and catalogs our nation’s publications, administers the nation’s copyright program, and organizes and preserves archival material. It maintains a massive website to help researchers access its collections as well as a beautiful building where researchers can work if they are in the nation’s capital.

Most of us know that the library has copies of all books in print. Some may even know of its photo archive or read the library’s blog. But did you also know that the library has an incredible collection of maps, many available to use for free online? Tucked away in the library's digital collections are twenty-three online map collections from not just the United States but Liberia, Japan, France, and other remote locations. Most of us will be interested in the American collections, which include the American Revolution and the mapping of North America, panoramas of American cities and towns, maps of the Civil War era, maps of the Louisiana Purchase, the National Parks, military battles and campaigns, the emerging American West, and so much more. Each collection has anywhere from a few dozen to thousands of images.

Go to the library's website to get started. Many of the older images are in the public domain and can be used freely in family history research, making them of great value to those who are writing family histories. There are thousands of maps on the website that are part of broader collections, but learning how to search the website effectively is necessary to locate them. 

(Carey, Mathew. Missouri territory formerly Louisiana. [S.l, 1814] 

Map from the Library of Congress. Public domain. https://www.loc.gov/item/2001620466/)

“Library of Congress Maps” in the StLGS Fall Speaker Series 

The paragraphs above provide just a taste of what you can find in the map collections at the Library of Congress, both in the actual library and online. To learn more about what is available, you will want to register for the StLGS Fall Speaker Series, “Mapping Our Ancestors,” which will take place live via Zoom on Saturday, 16 October 2021. StLGS Projects Director, Carol Whitton, CG, will discuss “Library of Congress Maps,” and you will surely find plenty in Carol's talk to enhance your genealogy research.

Three additional presentations round out our Speaker Series on maps: an introduction to the earliest American migration trails, an overview of federal land records, plat maps, and plat books, and a closer look at rural and urban map research using Sanborn maps and HistoryGeo.com. We'll talk more about the last lecture next week.

Registration for the Fall Speaker Series is now open on the StLGS website!

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StLGS Members:

Voting for the vice president of programs and the treasurer for 2022–2023 is now open on the StLGS website. You will find a button on the home page that will take you to a page with photos and bios of Kay Weber, who is running for vice president for programs, and Michelle Pearce, running for treasurer. Be sure you log in first and then click the link on the voting page to access a ballot. It shouldn’t take you more than a minute or two and both Kay and Michelle will appreciate your support.