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12/07/2010 - 10,000 images and 23 atlases viewable in the Rare Book Library
The HMW Rare Book Library is increasing weekly in size and currently contains 23 of the world's rarest atlases from 1482 to 1746 in their entirety. That's right, every page within the covers (including both sides of the covers themselves) have been digitized and presented in our new 3d flip book viewer allowing users to have the same experience as sitting down with the book in front of them. Leaf through the book sequentially, or jump directly to a specific map or page of text, the choice is yours.
We are in the process of creating the world's most complete and collection of rare atlases and if you have an interest in cartography, it is well worth your time experience the Rare Book Library at this early stage.
We are in the process of creating the world's most complete and collection of rare atlases and if you have an interest in cartography, it is well worth your time experience the Rare Book Library at this early stage.
06/02/2010 - 3D Rare Book Library Launched
History's greatest atlases deserve a world class map viewer and that's exactly why we created the 3D Flip Book viewer in our new Rare Book Library. We'll be adding additional books into the Rare Book Library as they become available from our partners at the Osher Map Library. Try it now by clicking on the banner on the home page or here.
05/03/2010 - Kroll Map Company provides HMW with vintage maps of Seattle
Researchers interested in the history and development of Seattle, Washington will be pleased to know that Kroll Map Company has generously opened its archive to Historic Map Works and has provided five vintage maps dating from 1920c to 1947c for inclusion in our online collection.
Kroll's tradition of quality cartography began in 1911, when Carl Kroll acquired the longstanding Anderson Map Company and the Washington Map and Blueprint Company.
Since its inception, the company has focused on mapping for real estate and local government, custom mapping, and the publication of numerous general mapping products.
Kroll Map Company's roots extend back as far as the 1870s with the Anderson Map Company and the Washington Map and Blueprint Company, making Kroll one of the oldest businesses in the Seattle area.
This was another era, when maps were drawn with quill pens, map images were captured on glass photographic plates (and exposed to sunlight for printmaking), and field checks were performed on horseback.
Cartography has advanced considerable since those early times and the Kroll Map Company continues to make new and exciting maps of the Pacific Northwest and the world to this day using cutting edge GIS techniques and precise cartographic software.
In a nod to its storied past, Kroll Map Company has generously allowed Historic Map Works access to its extensive cartographic archive including three maps of Seattle and its environs: 1920c, 1940c, 1947c as well as two large scale parcel maps from this 1930 Kroll atlas: 1930.
The maps above can been overlaid on modern satellite maps within our Historic EarthTM viewer by clicking the large green View the History of this place button on the zoom in/out page. When viewed within Historic EarthTM, you will quickly see the changes in property ownership as well as the development timelines. For example, this map from the Kroll Map Company's 1930 atlas shows the area around Boeing Field before the wholesale changes which occurred in the post-war boom years. Use the opacity sliders to fade between the old map and the modern street map and click other years to include other maps within the display.
We wish to thank our colleagues at Kroll Map Company for allowing our users access to their archive. If you wish to know more about Kroll Map Company's current products or their map creation services, we encourage you to visit their website: www.KrollMap.com or call them directly on 206-448-6277.
04/14/2010 - Town Map Plotting in Historic Earth
In order to make it easier to find town maps which have yet to be geocoded in Historic EarthTM, we've added a new feature to the map viewer.
By clicking the Historical Additional Content tab, you now have the option of enabling Town Map Plotting feature.
Doing so will plot a new TOWN icon on the modern map to represent additional town maps in the collection. If more than one map exisits for that particular town, you will be given a choice of thumbnails. Each thumbnail can be clicked to revel the full size version of that map in the Zoomify viewer.
Note: like Historic Building plotting and Points of Interest plotting, a maximum of 50 towns will be plotted at any one time, so the more you zoom in on the map viewer the more accurate your results.
By clicking the Historical Additional Content tab, you now have the option of enabling Town Map Plotting feature.
Doing so will plot a new TOWN icon on the modern map to represent additional town maps in the collection. If more than one map exisits for that particular town, you will be given a choice of thumbnails. Each thumbnail can be clicked to revel the full size version of that map in the Zoomify viewer.
Note: like Historic Building plotting and Points of Interest plotting, a maximum of 50 towns will be plotted at any one time, so the more you zoom in on the map viewer the more accurate your results.
02/25/2010 - 24 Million Historic Property Photographs
We are pleased to announce the partnership between Historic Map Works and Vintage Aerial. As many of our members already know, Vintage Aerial has the world's largest collection of aerial photographs of North American properties - a national treasure in the truest sense of the phrase. The collection spans from 1950s to the present; representing 50 years of rural American history.
By linking Vintage Aerial's 24 million property photographs with Historic Map Works's property maps, we hope to provide a key new research avenue for anyone interested in the history of their family home or the development of their town. Ultimately, we will enrich Vintage Aerial's historic photograph collection with our Historic Earth™ technology, allowing users to browse historical maps and find related historical photographs.
The partnership will first be apparent to our members as graphic banners linking historic map content to the Vintage Aerial website. As many long term members will note, this is the first time we have provided such prominent links to another collection. We encourage all of our members to visit Vintage Aerial's website to find a photograph connected to your past.
To get started with your search, visit their collection at www.vintageaerial.com
If you have any questions or would like more information about our partnership, please contact us.
By linking Vintage Aerial's 24 million property photographs with Historic Map Works's property maps, we hope to provide a key new research avenue for anyone interested in the history of their family home or the development of their town. Ultimately, we will enrich Vintage Aerial's historic photograph collection with our Historic Earth™ technology, allowing users to browse historical maps and find related historical photographs.
The partnership will first be apparent to our members as graphic banners linking historic map content to the Vintage Aerial website. As many long term members will note, this is the first time we have provided such prominent links to another collection. We encourage all of our members to visit Vintage Aerial's website to find a photograph connected to your past.
To get started with your search, visit their collection at www.vintageaerial.com
If you have any questions or would like more information about our partnership, please contact us.
02/22/2010 - HMW purchases Metsker Maps and the company's original map archive
We've added a new and exclusive collection to Historic Map Works. We recently finalized the acquisition of the company which published Metsker Maps and by doing so, acquired the copyrights to the Metsker Maps publications as well as the company's original archive of one of a kind pre-production cartographic materials from the company's 100 year history. Focusing primarily on property atlas and maps in the Pacific Northwest, researchers will find that the maps produced by Metsker Maps are an excellent source for documenting the sweeping changes took place in California, Oregon, Washington, and Idaho during the past century.
For more information about HMW's purchase of Metsker Maps, please see this announcement.
For more information about HMW's purchase of Metsker Maps, please see this announcement.
02/04/2010 - Maps Locked / Maps Unlocked button added to Historic Earth
Yesterday, we added a button which will allow users to lock and unlock the map viewer within Historic Earth. Think of it as the Lock Keyboard feature on your cell phone. By default, the map viewer is in the Unlocked state which means that each click on within the modern map viewer will perform a new address search bringing up a new list of matching maps, effectively clearing any previous maps you had overlaid. To preserve the map overlays and positioning, toggling the state to Locked will allow users to click on the modern map and the icons for any additional content (such as Points of Interest, Bird's Eye Views, ect) without performing a search for new maps. The Maps Locked / Maps Unlocked button appears in the upper right hand corner of Historic Earth.
02/04/2010 - New way to zoom into maps inside Historic Earth
Until now, if you were viewing a map overlay within Historic Earth and you clicked the Zoom, Print, or Download button a new window would popup and display the Zoomify page in our traditional viewer. As of today, you will now be presented with a new version of the Zoomify viewer that will appear within Historic Earth with all the features of the old one, except that you no longer have to juggle two open windows, nor will you be taken outside of Historic Earth.
As we ultimately plan to make all of our maps available as overlays inside of Historic Earth, we are working on other ways to incorporate the purchase page, browse atlas pages, and other aspects of our traditional site into the new viewer as well.
As we ultimately plan to make all of our maps available as overlays inside of Historic Earth, we are working on other ways to incorporate the purchase page, browse atlas pages, and other aspects of our traditional site into the new viewer as well.
02/03/2010 - The first of our Texas overlays uploaded into Historic Earth
Users of our site from Texas will be happy to know that the first of our Texas county maps collection have been loaded into Historic Earth. To date, 1/2 of the 400 or our rare Texas county landowner maps have been loaded into the new viewer, the remaining will follow in the weeks to come.
These maps have taken a little longer to appear in Historic Earth as we had to invent a couple of new processes before we could create the overlays. The challenge was trying to geocode maps which predate the inclusion of any discernible points of reference such as road intersections, railroad lines, or town names. The majority of Texas county maps fall in this category as many only show landowner names without much else. The few roads which are on these maps do not allow us to create the hundred or so points of georeference that we need to overlay maps of this scale.
An example of one these challenging maps can be found by following this link to this Presidio County map from 1911. To accomplish this challenge, our geocoding team created a new proprietary geocoding process which uses our own in-house pattern recognition algorithms and other software. In the future, we will apply the same techniques and software to create overlays for other maps in our collection which have previously been deemed impossible to georeference.
These maps have taken a little longer to appear in Historic Earth as we had to invent a couple of new processes before we could create the overlays. The challenge was trying to geocode maps which predate the inclusion of any discernible points of reference such as road intersections, railroad lines, or town names. The majority of Texas county maps fall in this category as many only show landowner names without much else. The few roads which are on these maps do not allow us to create the hundred or so points of georeference that we need to overlay maps of this scale.
An example of one these challenging maps can be found by following this link to this Presidio County map from 1911. To accomplish this challenge, our geocoding team created a new proprietary geocoding process which uses our own in-house pattern recognition algorithms and other software. In the future, we will apply the same techniques and software to create overlays for other maps in our collection which have previously been deemed impossible to georeference.
01/27/2010 - Bird's Eye and Aerial Views added to Historic Earth
We originally designed Historic Earth as the best way for our members to view old property maps overlaid on modern satellite imagery. However, that meant that the maps in our collection which could not be geocoded and overlaid (such as Bird's Eye and Aerial Views) would not appear in the new viewer. Rather than omitting these very popular maps, we have added a Bird's Eye View check box to the Additional Content tab in Historic Earth. When checked, you will see icons of all the views in the collection centered on the towns they are associated with. Click one of the icons to bring up a thumbnail and a link to the traditional Zoomify viewer.
01/23/2010 - People Search Beta launched in Historic Earth
**UPDATE, the People Search Beta has been renamed City Directory Search Beta to distinguish it from the new Census Search ***
You may have spotted the addition of a box called People Search to the main Tools tab of Historic Earth. We are using this as a beta test for a proposed function. In the future, we plan to plot the names, addresses, and occupations of the people listed in our city directory collection inside the Historic Earth Map viewer as a way for our members to visually trace where their ancestors lived and help them find the corresponding old maps.
Functionality is currently limited to an 1871 directory of our hometown of Portland, Maine. If we decide to add a People Search feature to the site we will roll it out for other geographic areas you will see an announcement on the site.
If you wish to try the beta, go to Historic Earth, click the Tools tab on the right and type in a surname into the People Search box. This will plot the data from the 1871 city directory onto the modern map with an icon featuring a person. You will need to manually navigate the modern map to Portland, Maine to see any of the icons (or type in Portland, ME in the address search box to be whisked directly there. Click the icon to see more information about that person such as occupation, address when it exists in the directly as well as a link to that specific page in the directory. If you have any comments about the People Search Beta, get in touch.
You may have spotted the addition of a box called People Search to the main Tools tab of Historic Earth. We are using this as a beta test for a proposed function. In the future, we plan to plot the names, addresses, and occupations of the people listed in our city directory collection inside the Historic Earth Map viewer as a way for our members to visually trace where their ancestors lived and help them find the corresponding old maps.
Functionality is currently limited to an 1871 directory of our hometown of Portland, Maine. If we decide to add a People Search feature to the site we will roll it out for other geographic areas you will see an announcement on the site.
If you wish to try the beta, go to Historic Earth, click the Tools tab on the right and type in a surname into the People Search box. This will plot the data from the 1871 city directory onto the modern map with an icon featuring a person. You will need to manually navigate the modern map to Portland, Maine to see any of the icons (or type in Portland, ME in the address search box to be whisked directly there. Click the icon to see more information about that person such as occupation, address when it exists in the directly as well as a link to that specific page in the directory. If you have any comments about the People Search Beta, get in touch.
01/13/2010 - Share your stories and upload photos in Historic Earth
Have you ever taken any interesting picture of a place (Perhaps a photo of a park in the snow or of your favorite place to watch the sunset) and wished you could share it with others? Well you now can with the new Add a Point feature of Historic Earth.
Log into your account and go to Historic Earth. Find a place in the modern map where you wish to leave a comment and or picture and then click Add a Point.
You will then be prompted to click the map to indicate where you would like to leave your comments and photos. Type in a title for your comment and upload a photo if you wish. You can choose to keep your photos and comments private before submitting. We recommend you make your comments public when possible that way, others will be able to share their information about that same spot.
To get the project started, we have prepopulated over 1 million points into Historic Earth. These include the names and locations of airports, buildings, cemetery, churches, hospitals, schools and other categories. Click the Additional Content tab in Historic Earth to enable viewing for the category(s) of interest. You can leave comments about all of these prepopulated points.
Log into your account and go to Historic Earth. Find a place in the modern map where you wish to leave a comment and or picture and then click Add a Point.
You will then be prompted to click the map to indicate where you would like to leave your comments and photos. Type in a title for your comment and upload a photo if you wish. You can choose to keep your photos and comments private before submitting. We recommend you make your comments public when possible that way, others will be able to share their information about that same spot.
To get the project started, we have prepopulated over 1 million points into Historic Earth. These include the names and locations of airports, buildings, cemetery, churches, hospitals, schools and other categories. Click the Additional Content tab in Historic Earth to enable viewing for the category(s) of interest. You can leave comments about all of these prepopulated points.
12/28/2009 - Be the first to try the Beta of our new Locate My Family tool
Using the Beta version of our Locate My Family tool, our users can upload a GEDCOM v5.5 compatible family tree file. This will allow our website to plot the various locations listed within that particular family tree and cross reference them with the relevant maps within the Historic Map Works collection in both our new Historic Earth™ viewer and our traditional Zoomify map viewer.
Combining the information from your family tree with our map collection is a powerful new way to visualize your family's migration across the world. Try the Beta here. .
Make sure you leave your questions or comments on the link provided as this feedback will help us determine whether or not to expand the capabilities of the program as a stand alone tool or ultimately, incorporate the features of Locate My Family into the Historic Earth Viewer.
Combining the information from your family tree with our map collection is a powerful new way to visualize your family's migration across the world. Try the Beta here. .
Make sure you leave your questions or comments on the link provided as this feedback will help us determine whether or not to expand the capabilities of the program as a stand alone tool or ultimately, incorporate the features of Locate My Family into the Historic Earth Viewer.
12/23/2009 - High Resolution, 300 dpi downloads now available
Perhaps the most common request by our members over the past 4 years is for high resolution, downloadable images.
I'm happy to announce the arrival of our high resolution, 300 dpi download feature. For $19.99, visitors to Historic Map Works can download their favorite maps at 3 to 4 times the clarity of our previous 72 dpi or Adobe .pdf downloads. Just select the quality of image you wish to purchase before clicking download. We are currently including 1 free high resolution download per month with a monthly subscription, so you may find it more economic to take out a monthly subscription if you plan to use more than a couple of print at home / download at home features.
Many of our users will still find that the 72 dpi standard resolution images to be more than adequate for their research needs so we have decided to keep them on the site for download as well, but at 1/2 their previous cost - $4.99. Check out our pricing chart and a link to our Evaluation Atlas where you can preview the 300 dpi image quality on our Membership Details page.
Like the 72 dpi downloads, the new high resolution images are still only licensed for personal, non-commercial use and will contain a light Historic Map Works watermark. You can purchase alternative licenses and obtain non-watermarked images by contacting our licensing department by contacting us.
I'm happy to announce the arrival of our high resolution, 300 dpi download feature. For $19.99, visitors to Historic Map Works can download their favorite maps at 3 to 4 times the clarity of our previous 72 dpi or Adobe .pdf downloads. Just select the quality of image you wish to purchase before clicking download. We are currently including 1 free high resolution download per month with a monthly subscription, so you may find it more economic to take out a monthly subscription if you plan to use more than a couple of print at home / download at home features.
Many of our users will still find that the 72 dpi standard resolution images to be more than adequate for their research needs so we have decided to keep them on the site for download as well, but at 1/2 their previous cost - $4.99. Check out our pricing chart and a link to our Evaluation Atlas where you can preview the 300 dpi image quality on our Membership Details page.
Like the 72 dpi downloads, the new high resolution images are still only licensed for personal, non-commercial use and will contain a light Historic Map Works watermark. You can purchase alternative licenses and obtain non-watermarked images by contacting our licensing department by contacting us.
12/20/2009 - Did you see the story about Historic Map Works on the evening news?
For those of you who missed it, we purchased a copy of the news story about Historic Map Works on our About Us page. Once there, just click the video screen for a little sneak peak at what happens behind the scenes here at HMW.
12/04/2009 - The numbers keep climbing...
It came to our attention today that we almost overlooked two significant milestones for the collection. Not only have we added the 40 millionth name nto the landowner name search, but as of today, the site has recorded over 80 million views since September of 2008.
12/02/2009 - Historic Earth improvements made
Users who frequent Historic Earth will have noticed that we've made a big update to how map results are displayed.
In the initial incarnation of Historic Earth, the maps which contain a geographic point were listed in the results window in straight chronological order. The update now sorts those results into three categories according to their scale: small (block and street level maps), medium (city and county maps), and large (state, regional, country, continental, and worldwide). Within each category, the maps are listed chronological.
Additionally, if you are viewing a medium or large scale map and you zoom to a point where the map is no longer useful, the map will be hidden until you zoom back to an appropriate level. We hope these two improvements, make your research easier.
In the initial incarnation of Historic Earth, the maps which contain a geographic point were listed in the results window in straight chronological order. The update now sorts those results into three categories according to their scale: small (block and street level maps), medium (city and county maps), and large (state, regional, country, continental, and worldwide). Within each category, the maps are listed chronological.
Additionally, if you are viewing a medium or large scale map and you zoom to a point where the map is no longer useful, the map will be hidden until you zoom back to an appropriate level. We hope these two improvements, make your research easier.
11/12/2009 - More maps put into the new Historic Earth viewer
Of the 1.1 million images on HistoricMapWork.com, 110k are now viewable within the new Historic Earth viewer.
Check Historic Earth daily to see updates to the red coverage polygon which is a visual indication of the areas with maps.
As a reminder, if Historic Earth currently doesn't have maps loaded for your area of interest, use the traditional viewers and searches on www.HistoricMapWorks.com to access the full 1.1 million images.
Check Historic Earth daily to see updates to the red coverage polygon which is a visual indication of the areas with maps.
As a reminder, if Historic Earth currently doesn't have maps loaded for your area of interest, use the traditional viewers and searches on www.HistoricMapWorks.com to access the full 1.1 million images.
11/10/2009 - New View the History of this Place button added
We have added a new feature to the traditional Zoomify page on www.HistoricMapWorks.com which will allow you to quickly find other maps of a similar geographic area inside the Historic Earth viewer.
When viewing a map in the Zoomify page, click the big green button labeled View the history of this place and you will be taken into the new Historic Earth viewer where you will see a list of the other maps which have been geocoded for that area.
When viewing a map in the Zoomify page, click the big green button labeled View the history of this place and you will be taken into the new Historic Earth viewer where you will see a list of the other maps which have been geocoded for that area.
10/14/2009 - The collection continues to grow...
The following is a sneak peak at the names of 20 rare atlases recently added to the collection. You should expect to see these in the traditional HistoricMapWorks.com viewer within the next few weeks and overlaid modern maps in Historic Earth shortly after:
NY Staten Island and Richmond County 1874
NJ Newark and New Jersey 1873 by G. M. Hopkins
NJ Trenton and New Jersey 1881 by E. Robinson
NJ Bloomfield (Essex County) 1912 Tax Map Atlas
NJ Hudson County (Hoboken) 1934 by Hopkins
NJ Caldwell - Essex Fells - Roseland 1933 Real Estate Atlas
NJ Verona (Essex County) 1928 Tax Maps Surveys
NJ Maplewood - South Orange - Roseland 1928 by Robinson
NJ Jersey City 1928 by G.M. Hopkins
NJ Oranges 1911 by Mueller
NJ Jersey City and Hudson County 1894 Vol 2 by Fowler 2
OH Cleveland 1898
OH Lake County 1915
OH Cleveland 1912 Vol 1
OH Cleveland 1932 Vol 1 Revised 1942
OH Cleveland 1932 Vol 4 Revised 1942
OH Cleveland 1933 Vol 3
OH Cuyahoga County 1927 Vol 5
OH Cuyahoga County 1942 Vol 2 Revised 1950
OH Cuyahoga 1956 Vol5
NY Staten Island and Richmond County 1874
NJ Newark and New Jersey 1873 by G. M. Hopkins
NJ Trenton and New Jersey 1881 by E. Robinson
NJ Bloomfield (Essex County) 1912 Tax Map Atlas
NJ Hudson County (Hoboken) 1934 by Hopkins
NJ Caldwell - Essex Fells - Roseland 1933 Real Estate Atlas
NJ Verona (Essex County) 1928 Tax Maps Surveys
NJ Maplewood - South Orange - Roseland 1928 by Robinson
NJ Jersey City 1928 by G.M. Hopkins
NJ Oranges 1911 by Mueller
NJ Jersey City and Hudson County 1894 Vol 2 by Fowler 2
OH Cleveland 1898
OH Lake County 1915
OH Cleveland 1912 Vol 1
OH Cleveland 1932 Vol 1 Revised 1942
OH Cleveland 1932 Vol 4 Revised 1942
OH Cleveland 1933 Vol 3
OH Cuyahoga County 1927 Vol 5
OH Cuyahoga County 1942 Vol 2 Revised 1950
OH Cuyahoga 1956 Vol5
10/14/2009 - Historic Earth iPhone App Launches!
Map enthusiasts with iPhones can now download the iPhone App from iTunes and overlay the maps from the HMW collection on top of modern maps directly on their iPhone.
Our Historic Earth™ App allows users to travel back through time and view the development of cities and towns across the U.S. and soon the entire world. The features and content of Historic Earth™ are adapted to view on your iPhone or Wi-Fi connected iPod Touch. You can find and view maps using the built in iPhone GPS. Search for an address, or U.S. landmark, or a visual browse while viewing a modern day map.
To see a video demo and a link to the App itself within iTunes visit:
Historic Earth™ iPhone App
Our Historic Earth™ App allows users to travel back through time and view the development of cities and towns across the U.S. and soon the entire world. The features and content of Historic Earth™ are adapted to view on your iPhone or Wi-Fi connected iPod Touch. You can find and view maps using the built in iPhone GPS. Search for an address, or U.S. landmark, or a visual browse while viewing a modern day map.
To see a video demo and a link to the App itself within iTunes visit:
Historic Earth™ iPhone App
10/02/2009 - One Million Images!
Another day, another milestone surpassed.
As of today, the site's image counter hit 1,000,000 images, but we're not stopping there as we have an equal number still to put up. Keep checking the scrolling title page feed at the top of this page to keep up to date with the most recent additions.
As of today, the site's image counter hit 1,000,000 images, but we're not stopping there as we have an equal number still to put up. Keep checking the scrolling title page feed at the top of this page to keep up to date with the most recent additions.
09/17/2009 - Historic Earth Launches!
Travel across the world and back in time. Track the growth of America and discovery of the world. We are launching Historic Earth™ with coverage for Boston, New York, Philadelphia, Los Angeles, Washington DC, and our home town, Portland, Maine.
Coverage for most midwest states and the rest of our collection will be added over the next few weeks. World wide coverage based on the maps from the Osher Map Library will be added soon.
Try Historic Earth™ by following the links on the home page.
Coverage for most midwest states and the rest of our collection will be added over the next few weeks. World wide coverage based on the maps from the Osher Map Library will be added soon.
Try Historic Earth™ by following the links on the home page.
08/28/2009 - Redesign of new homepage
In order to get ready for impending arrival of Historic Earth and the Historic Earth Ap for the iPhone, we have streamlined the homepage. All the features of the old home page remain, just in a slightly different arrangement. Feel free to contact us with any questions you may have or any technical bugs you come across.
08/17/2009 - Landowner Name Search now includes over 20 million midwest family names
Are any of your relatives included? To find out, click the Landowner Name Search link at the top of
the main search
page.
08/17/2009 - 69 Philadelphia Atlases now viewable
To see a full list, browse the collection for Philadelphia atlases.
Hint: the little book icon next to a map group name indicates an atlas as opposed to a single map.
Hint: the little book icon next to a map group name indicates an atlas as opposed to a single map.
07/07/2009 - 40,000 Images made searchable in the Landowner Name Search
Two weeks ago, we began to OCR the text pages within our landowner atlases to make them name searchable. As of today, 40,000 pages have been finished.
If you would like to try it out, click the Landowner Name Search link at the top of the main search page.
If you would like to try it out, click the Landowner Name Search link at the top of the main search page.
06/24/2009 - Landowner Name Search function added for atlas directory pages.
Eagle-eyed members will may have noticed we are
in the process of making all the directory pages and landowner indexes in our
atlases keyword searchable. This means that you will be able to enter the
name of someone you suspect to be a landowner in a particular county and if that
person's name has been recorded, you will have the option to be taken directly
to the text page which contains that name. With the information, it is a simple
process to find the map from the same atlas which displays that person's name
and the location of their property.
There are currently two places to find this new
feature. The main point of entry is the new Landowner Name
Search tab which has been added to the upper right hand
corner of the main seach page.
Alternatively, look for the new purple Landowner Name
Search tab at the top of the results page when you browse an atlas such
as this example
in our Alabama collection.
When you click on either tab, you will be
quickly be able to search for names you enter amongst the images in the
text directory and landowner index pages which accompanied the maps in the
original atlas.
Clicking on a search result will take you
directly to the page which contains that name and will also give you the option
to highlight its specific location on the page.
Currently, over 25,0000 of our indexes are searchable, but our computers are running around the clock to make every landowners text page in the collection searchable, so check the Landowner Name Search link at the top of
the main seach
page often to see if your state of interest has been
enabled.
06/17/2009 - 14 Philladelphia Atlases Just Purchased
Bringing the total count of Philadelphia property atlases in the HMW collection to over 45, our scanning department has just taken delivery of 14 additional vintage atlases. We'll have these cataloged, scanned, processed and on the site ready for viewing by our members in July.
The new atlases include:
Philadelphia 1891 by Baist
Philadelphia 1883 by Hopkins
Philadelphia 1872 West inc Wards 24 & 27 by Hopkins
Philadelphia 1874 Ward 19 by Jones & Co.
Philadelphia 1884 Wards 21 & 28 by Hopkins
Philadelphia 1885 Ward 22 by Hopkins
Philadelphia 1886 Wards 11-15 by Bromley
Philadelphia 1892 Wards 24 & 34 by Bromley
Philadelphia 1886 Wards 16, 17, 20, 29 by Bromley
Philadelphia 1887 Wards 18, 19, 31 by Bromley
Philadelphia 1889 Wards 26 & 30 by Bromley
Philadelphia 1892 Ward 27 by Bromley
Philadelphia 1894 Wards 28, 32, 37 by Bromley
Philadelphia 1886 Wards 16, 17, 20, 29 by Bromley
The new atlases include:
Philadelphia 1891 by Baist
Philadelphia 1883 by Hopkins
Philadelphia 1872 West inc Wards 24 & 27 by Hopkins
Philadelphia 1874 Ward 19 by Jones & Co.
Philadelphia 1884 Wards 21 & 28 by Hopkins
Philadelphia 1885 Ward 22 by Hopkins
Philadelphia 1886 Wards 11-15 by Bromley
Philadelphia 1892 Wards 24 & 34 by Bromley
Philadelphia 1886 Wards 16, 17, 20, 29 by Bromley
Philadelphia 1887 Wards 18, 19, 31 by Bromley
Philadelphia 1889 Wards 26 & 30 by Bromley
Philadelphia 1892 Ward 27 by Bromley
Philadelphia 1894 Wards 28, 32, 37 by Bromley
Philadelphia 1886 Wards 16, 17, 20, 29 by Bromley
06/12/2009 - Over Half A Million Photographs and Drawings Made Available
Visit the new Historic Photographs section of Historic Map Works to view over 500,000 photographs and architectural drawings for 38,000 notable American structures and landscapes from the Library of Congress's Historic American Buildings Survey and other collections.
Browse the collection for images of residences, schools, businesses, mills, landscapes and hundreds of other categories. Images from the last 75 years have all been made name searchable and location browseable. Also interesting to note is the Browse by Subject feature which allows users to view all photographs of a common subject area. If for example, you are researching historic log cabins click the Browse by Subject link and then the log cabin link to be shown results of all the photographs which meet that search criteria. Similar searches can be done for subjects ranging from adobe buildings to zoos.
In the future, these images will be linked to relevant maps within the Historic Map Works collection. For a demonstration, click the green Geocode button in certain parts of Massachusetts in the Historic Photographs collection for images linked to maps.
Browse the collection for images of residences, schools, businesses, mills, landscapes and hundreds of other categories. Images from the last 75 years have all been made name searchable and location browseable. Also interesting to note is the Browse by Subject feature which allows users to view all photographs of a common subject area. If for example, you are researching historic log cabins click the Browse by Subject link and then the log cabin link to be shown results of all the photographs which meet that search criteria. Similar searches can be done for subjects ranging from adobe buildings to zoos.
In the future, these images will be linked to relevant maps within the Historic Map Works collection. For a demonstration, click the green Geocode button in certain parts of Massachusetts in the Historic Photographs collection for images linked to maps.
06/08/2009 - 20 Washington D.C. Property Atlases Now Address Searchable
Researchers interested in Washington D.C. history will be pleased to know that we have just completed geocoding all the maps within HMW's 20 G.W. Baist property atlases.
This means members can type a modern D.C. (and suburbs) address into the Atlas Search function and be taken directly to the plate which covers that geographic area. Once inside an atlas that has been geocoded, members can overlay the boundaries of the old map on top of modern street and satellite base layers.
Click on the blue Search tab at the top of any screen and then choose the Address option to get started.
This means members can type a modern D.C. (and suburbs) address into the Atlas Search function and be taken directly to the plate which covers that geographic area. Once inside an atlas that has been geocoded, members can overlay the boundaries of the old map on top of modern street and satellite base layers.
Click on the blue Search tab at the top of any screen and then choose the Address option to get started.
05/27/2009 - Find A Map Page Launched
To make getting started on a research topic easier, we've
created a single page which lists all the most frequently used search and
browse functions together in one place. This new Find A Map page is a great jumping off point for any topic you are researching and is currently linked to from the home page.
05/01/2009 - Bovine Genealogy?
Here at Historic Map Works, we consider our online collection to be the world's best source of historical maps to help you with your family history research. Using old maps in this manner is what we term Residential GenealogyTM.
Well, it has recently come to our attention that a few of the maps in our collection can also be used for a slightly narrower field of research we are calling Bovine Genealogy.
On such maps, not only are the names of the property owners displayed, but also the brand or mark that farm placed on their cattle.
An example of a map which lends itself to Bovine Genealogy is this 1963 map from Tripp County, South Dakota.
Unfortunately, we're still trying to figure out how to make the brand symbols searchable for our members.
If you know of another slightly left-of-center use for our maps, get in touch. A free months membership will be given for the ones which make us say, we've never thought of that!
Well, it has recently come to our attention that a few of the maps in our collection can also be used for a slightly narrower field of research we are calling Bovine Genealogy.
On such maps, not only are the names of the property owners displayed, but also the brand or mark that farm placed on their cattle.
An example of a map which lends itself to Bovine Genealogy is this 1963 map from Tripp County, South Dakota.
Unfortunately, we're still trying to figure out how to make the brand symbols searchable for our members.
If you know of another slightly left-of-center use for our maps, get in touch. A free months membership will be given for the ones which make us say, we've never thought of that!
04/14/2009 - The first of 1 million midwest geocodes enabled
Starting Monday, we'll put up the first geocodes from over 1 million midwest maps. We will be uploading approximately 10,000 geocodes per day.
For the first time on any site, midwest researchers will be able to search the world's largest historical map collection by either entering a modern street address or a set of latitude / longitude coordinates.
For the first time on any site, midwest researchers will be able to search the world's largest historical map collection by either entering a modern street address or a set of latitude / longitude coordinates.
04/01/2009 - HMW Storage Space Exceeds 140 Terabytes
Anyone who has ever scanned their family photos knows that it is easy to quickly exceed the storage limits of their computer.
As you can imagine, with plans for over a million maps online by this time next year, we face many storage challenges. Add into the equation that we scan the original maps at an archival fine-art quality and that the average image size for a map from our collection is around 16"x20" (with some as large as 5'x5') and the storage requirements quickly add up.
To address the ongoing need for space, we recently upgraded our servers to 140 terabytes.
So how large is a terabyte? Wikipedia describes it here and points out that the Library of Congress's Web Capture Team (the team which is creating an archive of all the sites on the Internet) had collected almost 83 terabytes as of last year.
So what are we going to do with the additional space? We have many exciting projects in the works, including the ability to download full 300 dpi images directly from the website. When launched, we will continue to offer our standard downloads for the researcher, however those who need the highest quality images possible will have access to the larger 300 dpi files. Keep an eye on the home page during the next couple of months for an announcement when this feature becomes available.
As you can imagine, with plans for over a million maps online by this time next year, we face many storage challenges. Add into the equation that we scan the original maps at an archival fine-art quality and that the average image size for a map from our collection is around 16"x20" (with some as large as 5'x5') and the storage requirements quickly add up.
To address the ongoing need for space, we recently upgraded our servers to 140 terabytes.
So how large is a terabyte? Wikipedia describes it here and points out that the Library of Congress's Web Capture Team (the team which is creating an archive of all the sites on the Internet) had collected almost 83 terabytes as of last year.
So what are we going to do with the additional space? We have many exciting projects in the works, including the ability to download full 300 dpi images directly from the website. When launched, we will continue to offer our standard downloads for the researcher, however those who need the highest quality images possible will have access to the larger 300 dpi files. Keep an eye on the home page during the next couple of months for an announcement when this feature becomes available.
03/16/2009 - Nine Cleveland and Cuyahoga County Property Atlases Arrive
If you are interested in doing Ohio research, you'll be happy to know that we have just taken delivery of nine rare, historic atlases for Cleveland and Cuyahoga County. Once we scan these atlases, the online collection will cover the years between 1874 to the early 1960's. Look for them to be fully viewable on the site within the next week.
03/13/2009 - Monthly and Yearly Subscriptions Announced.
We often get asked if we offered all inclusive access to the collection and its premium features. Until, now the answer was "no", but as of today, members can upgrade their basic Pay-Per-Use Membership to a Monthly or Yearly subscription. For more information on either of these new plans, please see our Access and Membership Details page.
03/09/2009 - Recently Added Images Link Added To Site
Visitor to HistoricMapWorks.com now have the ability to see the latest additions to the site. Just follow the Recently Added Images button from either the Home Page or the live Collection-At-A-Glance page.
02/06/2009 - Delivery taken for 75 additional antiquarian atlases
Yesterday, we were fortunate enough to add an additional 75 antiquarian atlases (covering 17 states and 1 province) to the collection. We have begun to scan them and they are scheduled to appear on the website by the middle of March. See below for a list. -Jason @ HMW
Florida North Dade County 1951
Illinois Macoupin County 1875 Including the State of Illinois, Menard County 1899, Moultrie County 1875 Including the State of Illinois, Rock Island County 1905, Williamson County 1908
Indiana Marshall County 1922,Montgomery County 1878,Noble County 1893, St. Joseph County 1929
Iowa Calhoun County 1920, Clayton County 1914,Greene County 1928, Hardin County 1875, Misssissipi River Charts 1867 Warren's Report of the Bridging of the River, Monroe County 1919, Muscatine County 1874, Polk County 1914, Poweshiek County 1908, Tama County 1909, Washington County 1920
Kansas Douglas County 1921, Mitchell County 1917
Michigan Hillsdale County 1894, Jackson County 1894, Mason County 1904
Minnesota Chippewa County 1914, Cottonwood County 1896, Douglas County 1958, Fillmore County 1928, Goodhue County 1914, Jackson County 1914, Lincoln County 1915, Lyon County 1929, Murray County 1926, Nichollet County 1899, Nornan County 1910, Ramsey - Dakota - Washington Counties and St. Paul 1960, Ramsey County 1931, Rock Count 1935, Wilkin County 1915
Missouri Harrison County 1876,Harrison County 1917, Scotland County 1898
Nebraska Cuming County 1919, Furnas County 1904, Gosper County 1948, Missouri River Charts 1877 Major Charles R. Suter Surveys
New Mexico Harding and Union Counties 1930
New York New York City 1890c Block Book Vol 2 Canal to Fourteenth Street
North Dakota Traill County 1909
Ohio Cayahoga County 1927, Clark County 1875, Defiance County 1890, Delaware County 1875, Morrow County 1871, Noble County 1876, Paulding County 1917, Shelby County 1875, Shelby County 1900, Williams Couny 1894
South Dakota Day County 1963, Douglas County 1909 - 1910, Grant County 1929, Lincoln County 1929
Washington Lincoln County 1943
Wisconsin Buffalo County 1914, Columbia County 1873, Grant County 1877, Jackson County 1914, Lafayette County 1895, Marathon County 1901, Richland County 1895, Rock County 1940
Canada - British Columbia Trout Lake - Lardeau and Ainsworth 1928 Mineral Reference Map
Florida North Dade County 1951
Illinois Macoupin County 1875 Including the State of Illinois, Menard County 1899, Moultrie County 1875 Including the State of Illinois, Rock Island County 1905, Williamson County 1908
Indiana Marshall County 1922,Montgomery County 1878,Noble County 1893, St. Joseph County 1929
Iowa Calhoun County 1920, Clayton County 1914,Greene County 1928, Hardin County 1875, Misssissipi River Charts 1867 Warren's Report of the Bridging of the River, Monroe County 1919, Muscatine County 1874, Polk County 1914, Poweshiek County 1908, Tama County 1909, Washington County 1920
Kansas Douglas County 1921, Mitchell County 1917
Michigan Hillsdale County 1894, Jackson County 1894, Mason County 1904
Minnesota Chippewa County 1914, Cottonwood County 1896, Douglas County 1958, Fillmore County 1928, Goodhue County 1914, Jackson County 1914, Lincoln County 1915, Lyon County 1929, Murray County 1926, Nichollet County 1899, Nornan County 1910, Ramsey - Dakota - Washington Counties and St. Paul 1960, Ramsey County 1931, Rock Count 1935, Wilkin County 1915
Missouri Harrison County 1876,Harrison County 1917, Scotland County 1898
Nebraska Cuming County 1919, Furnas County 1904, Gosper County 1948, Missouri River Charts 1877 Major Charles R. Suter Surveys
New Mexico Harding and Union Counties 1930
New York New York City 1890c Block Book Vol 2 Canal to Fourteenth Street
North Dakota Traill County 1909
Ohio Cayahoga County 1927, Clark County 1875, Defiance County 1890, Delaware County 1875, Morrow County 1871, Noble County 1876, Paulding County 1917, Shelby County 1875, Shelby County 1900, Williams Couny 1894
South Dakota Day County 1963, Douglas County 1909 - 1910, Grant County 1929, Lincoln County 1929
Washington Lincoln County 1943
Wisconsin Buffalo County 1914, Columbia County 1873, Grant County 1877, Jackson County 1914, Lafayette County 1895, Marathon County 1901, Richland County 1895, Rock County 1940
Canada - British Columbia Trout Lake - Lardeau and Ainsworth 1928 Mineral Reference Map
01/07/2009 - Illustration Finder Launched
Ever wondered what your ancestors looked like? Curious to know what your great-great aunt's farm was as beautiful as she always said?
Find the answer to these questions and more by being the first to visit our new Illustration Finder.
To help you with your search for family names and relevant pictures, we've compiled a list of all the surnames we've recorded for our historic illustration collection. You can either browse a brand new alphabetical list or conduct a keyword search. Click on a name (or a variation of the spelling of your name) in the Illustration Finder to see the associated images in the collection. These names could be surnames or the family name within a farm or business name. Happy hunting.
Find the answer to these questions and more by being the first to visit our new Illustration Finder.
To help you with your search for family names and relevant pictures, we've compiled a list of all the surnames we've recorded for our historic illustration collection. You can either browse a brand new alphabetical list or conduct a keyword search. Click on a name (or a variation of the spelling of your name) in the Illustration Finder to see the associated images in the collection. These names could be surnames or the family name within a farm or business name. Happy hunting.
12/30/2008 - Publisher Search Added
If you would like to search the HMW collection by a specific publisher or author, click the SEARCH tab at the top of any screen and choose the new PUBLISHER tab.
Keep in mind that publishers and authors often referred to themselves in various ways as their firms evolved. As we try to record the publisher in the same manner listed on the work's title page or copyright information, you may want to try various searches in the publisher field if you wish to find as many results as possible.
For example, if you would like to find all the George H. Walker associated works in the collection, it is best to try simple searches first such as 'Walker' as his company had over 9 variations of its name in its existence (we counted!), including: Geo. H. Walker, George Walker, Geo. H. Walker & Co., Geo. H. Walker and Company. ect...
Keep in mind that publishers and authors often referred to themselves in various ways as their firms evolved. As we try to record the publisher in the same manner listed on the work's title page or copyright information, you may want to try various searches in the publisher field if you wish to find as many results as possible.
For example, if you would like to find all the George H. Walker associated works in the collection, it is best to try simple searches first such as 'Walker' as his company had over 9 variations of its name in its existence (we counted!), including: Geo. H. Walker, George Walker, Geo. H. Walker & Co., Geo. H. Walker and Company. ect...
12/24/2008 - Thumbnails added to search results and other changes to the site.
You might have noticed that in the run up to the
holidays we've made quite a few additions to the look and feel of the site.
First off, to make delving into the collection easier, you will now be presented
with thumbnail views of both images and atlas title pages whenever you do a
search or browse. We've also added an unobtrusive watermark to the map zoom page
to better label the images as part of our collection.
We have some pretty exciting new features planned for the site in the coming year, including increasing the size of the city directory collection by a large amount as well as a redesign of the directories viewer to allow easier browsing and and the ability to print pages at home.
We have some pretty exciting new features planned for the site in the coming year, including increasing the size of the city directory collection by a large amount as well as a redesign of the directories viewer to allow easier browsing and and the ability to print pages at home.
Two years ago, HistoricMapWorks.com had
approximately 20,000 maps and images online and by adding an addition 200,000
maps in the last two months alone we've almost reached the half-a- million mark.
But that's not all as we fully expect to surpass the million image mark in the
next year and a half. Watch this space!
12/10/2008 - HistoricMapWorks.com reaches 10 million page views
It was fitting that on December the 10th, HistoricMapWorks.com received its 10 millionth page view request. Though we don't know who clicked the link which rolled over the 9,999,999th page, we do know the next map shown.
So, what map was shown after the 10 millionth page view on HistoricMapWorks.com? Click here to find out.
11/26/2008 - New Rotate Option Added to Geocode Feature
To make orienting our old maps easier when comparing to modern maps, we have now upgraded our GEOCODE feature to include a rotate function. We hope this change makes your research all that much easier.
11/25/2008 - New Points of Interest Browse
You can now find maps by browsing millions of points of interest contained on maps within our collection. Points of interest are divided into categories and include buildings, cemeteries, churches, schools, geographic features and much more. Click here to browse Points of Interest.
11/25/2008 - Print at Home Feature Now Only 99 Cents
As a thank you to our members we are pleased to slash the price of our print-at-home feature for all our maps to only 99 cents. Your subscription to Historic Map Works now goes even further than ever. Click here to create an account for free.
11/18/2008 - Take advantage of our holiday flat rate shipping & handling offer for our most popular products
From now until Jan 1, 2009 orders of unframed maps delivered via UPS Ground to US destinations will be charged a flat rate shipping & handling fee of $10.00. Orders containing gift items, framed maps, or delivered outside of the US will be charged at UPS's normal rate.
09/15/2008 - HMW Purchases an Additional 109 Atlases
We are pleased to announce the purchase of an additional 109 additional historic town and county atlases. Our scanning staff is unpacking and accessioning the new material in preparation of adding them to the ever expanding website. Scanning will begin later in the week and should be finished by the middle of October. Notable additions to the collection will include some rare and unusual atlases of both Colorado and Washington D.C. Other states and areas represented are Illinois, Indiana, Iowa, Kansas, Michigan, Minnesota, Missouri, Nebraska, Pennsylvania, South Dakota and Wisconsin. As always, we are happy to hear from anyone that believes they have map, atlas, or other content that is not already on the site.
09/02/2008 - Gift Certificates and e-Gift Certificates now available
Would you like to give one of our maps as a gift, but don't know which one of our quarter million to give? Our easy to use gift certificates make the perfect gift. Choose from either a traditional printed certificate delivered from our offices to the recipient via the U.S. Postal Service or a print-at-home version which can be emailed instantaneously. Either option allows you to include a personalized message to be printed on the certificate. Gift certificates can be purchased by clicking on the "Gift Certificates" tab in your "My account" page (you must be logged in).
07/08/2008 - Rotate Function Added To Map Viewer
In addition to the current pan and zoom feature on the map viewing page, the site now offers the ability to rotate images both clockwise and counter-clockwise allowing the reading of text that might otherwise be oriented in a direction other than left to right. To rotate the image, enable the Rotate function by selecting the "Rotate ON" button which is located at the top of the image. Doing so will display two new icons (represented by circular arrows) on the right of the Zoomify control panel. While the Rotate function is enabled, the "click to zoom" function is disabled, so please use the zoom slider bar or the plus and minus icons instead.
07/02/2008 - Attribute and Quality Tags Added to U.S. Map Groups
When browsing a list of U.S. maps, you now have the ability to show or hide various types of map groups according to the attributes we have assigned them. For example, a common request was "how can I view a list of bird's eye views in my state?" Up until this update, when browsing the collection for a particular state, a visitor was presented with a list that included bound property atlases, bird's eye views, single state maps, railroad maps, and nautical charts all mixed together. Now however, visitors can choose which of the above categories to filter on and off by checking and unchecking the appropriate boxes. By default, all content will be shown.
At the same time, we classified all of our U.S. map groups according to the quality of the images within. There are two classifications: High Quality and Informational Quality. The first denotes high quality scans of original documents that are perfect for fine-art quality reproduction prints, this is designated by the H icon next to the publisher. The second classification denotes scans which are suitable for research use and lend themselves nicely to being printed in our Research Print format, this is designated by the i icon next to the publisher.
It is possible to order a full-size fine-art reproduction of an image from a map group designated as Informational Quality, however the final print quality and legibility will be much lower than from our High Quality images.
At the same time, we classified all of our U.S. map groups according to the quality of the images within. There are two classifications: High Quality and Informational Quality. The first denotes high quality scans of original documents that are perfect for fine-art quality reproduction prints, this is designated by the H icon next to the publisher. The second classification denotes scans which are suitable for research use and lend themselves nicely to being printed in our Research Print format, this is designated by the i icon next to the publisher.
It is possible to order a full-size fine-art reproduction of an image from a map group designated as Informational Quality, however the final print quality and legibility will be much lower than from our High Quality images.
06/06/2008 - Improved User Comment System
It's now easier than ever for our users to share their knowledge relating to any map in our collection. On the bottom of every map's Pan and Zoom page, there is a box which allows you to submit public comments about the map. When you submit comments to our website via this box, not only are you adding to the the collective knowledge about that particular map or geographic area, but you also have the opportunity to earn credits for your account. Click here for details or click here to see what visitors like you have already said about our maps.
05/28/2008 - Reduced International Shipping Rates
Our international customers will be pleased to know that we now offer international shipping via the U.S. Postal Service to most places in the world, at very reasonable rates. The price for shipping is calculated during the checkout process. Shipping time is typically 5 to 10 days depending on your location. Domestic orders are shipped by UPS Ground, 3 Day, Second Day or Next Day. Please remember that all orders typically take 1 to 2 days to process before shipping.
05/12/2008 - Newly Redesigned Site Launched
We've completely redesigned not only the look and feel of the website, but the functions as well, making it easier than ever to find and view maps. The shopping cart and checkout system has also been completely revamped to make it easy to purchase any image on the site as a Print, Framed Print, or Gift. We've eliminated the yearly subscription fee for all members, and implimented a new credit system. It's free to sign up, and easy to get started using all of our new and improved features like Address Search, Geocoding, Printing and Saving. Read more about the new membership system.
04/02/2008 - Framed Prints Now Available
We now offer custom framed and matted prints for most of the maps in our collection, available in 16" x 20", 18" x 24" and 24" x 36". Our frames feature a smooth black finish and are made in the USA. When viewing a map, click the blue "Purchase" button to see what frame sizes are available for that paticular image.
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