Map of Detroit River and Adjacent Country, August 26, 1813.
Record Group 64: Records of the National Archives and Records Administration
Image description: Zoomed-in portion of a map of the Detroit River, showing the tiny grid of streets that indicate the town of Detroit, and the fort just to its west. Across the river on the Canadian side of the river are British Batteries, and the American Redoubt and fortified Camp, evacuated.
Image description: Map of the Detroit River from Lake Erie to Lake St. Clair. The Canadian townships and the Michigan Territory side of the river are bordered in different colors. Military fortifications and rivers are labeled, as is a tiny section of streets labeled “Detroit.” What we now know as Belle Isle is labeled “Hog I.”
Source: catalog.archives.gov
Map of the Civil War Siege of Vicksburg, Mississippi., August 20, 1863.
Record Group 77: Records of the Office of the Chief of Engineers
Image description: Map of Vicksburg, Mississippi, and surrounding areas, including a loop of the Mississippi River and the terrain around the city. Cross-sections show the Federal and Rebel batteries, and colored lines show the locations of opposing forces.
Source: catalog.archives.gov
WWI skeleton map of South Russia, Turkey, and Persia showing assumed distribution of the enemy’s forces, August 14, 1918.
Record Group 120: Records of the American Expeditionary Forces (World War I)
Image description: Map showing the area roughly from Latvia to the Persian Gulf. Red lines show German, Ukrainian, and Austro-Hungarian armies on the Eastern Front; green lines show Bulgarian, Azerbaijani, Mesopotamian, Palestinian, Hejaz, Asir, and Yemeni forces in Dobrudja and the Turkish theater.
Source: catalog.archives.gov
“An Accurate Map of the United States of America, with Part of the Surrounding Provinces agreeable to the Treaty of Peace of 1783,” published August 6, 1783.
(You can zoom really far in in our catalog!)
Record Group 76: Records of Boundary and Claims Commissions and Arbitrations
Series: Maps Related to the Northeastern Boundary of the United States
Image description: A map of the U.S. as of 1783, with states, towns, waterways, and tribal lands labeled. Judging by the shape of Michigan, the map is not entirely accurate.
Image description: Zoomed-in portion of the map centered on Philadelphia, showing parts of New Jersey, Pennsylvania, Delaware, and Maryland. All of the little beaches and islands along the eastern shore of New Jersey are labeled.
Source: catalog.archives.gov
Belleau Wood situation map, June 8, 1918.
Record Group 120: Records of the American Expeditionary Forces (World War I)
Image description: Zoomed-in area showing markings, including “Marines are reported to have advanced last night to this red dotted line, otherwise todays line is same as that of 8PM June 7th” and “Machine Gun Nests” with arrows pointing to spots on the map.
Image description: Map of the Belleau Wood area, with hand-drawn lines of troop movements.
Source: catalog.archives.gov
Map of the United States, April 3, 1783.
Record Group 76: Records of Boundary and Claims Commissions and Arbitrations
Series: Maps Related to the Northeastern Boundary of the United States
Image description: Map of the U.S. as of 1783, with states, geographical features, and Native American tribal territories labeled. Everything west of the Mississippi is just “Louisiana,” and some of the spellings are a bit off, like “Pensilvania.”
Image description: Zoomed-in portion of the map, showing how the cartographers hadn’t quite figured out the shape of Michigan yet.
Image description: Zoomed-in portion of the map, showing the Carolinas, Georgia reaching all the way to the Mississippi River, and East Florida/West Florida, which is not yet part of the U.S.
Source: catalog.archives.gov
Plan of Fort Dearborn in what is now Chicago, January 25, 1808.
Record Group 77: Records of the Office of the Chief of Engineers
Series: Fortifications Map File Plans of Military Forts
Image description: Drawing of buildings around a central square, and additional buildings further out. The front of each building is shown, oriented to the direction it faces, so that buildings facing north are upside down.
Image description: Detail of the plan, showing a few buildings with notations like “to be replaced”.
Image description: Detail of the plan, showing part of the circle of trees that surround the fort.
Source: catalog.archives.gov
Boundary between the United States and Mexico, as agreed upon by the Joint Commission under the Treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo. 12/9/1852.
Record Group 77: Records of the Office of the Chief of Engineers
Image description: Map of the boundary between Chihuahua and Texas, from just south of El Paso/Ciudad Juárez, to Fort Hancock/Cabras. None of these places are marked on the map. It mostly just shows mountains, scrub, and the Rio Bravo, now the Rio Grande. The only place name that appears to be the same as now is the city of Guadalupe.
Source: catalog.archives.gov
Map Showing Defences of Cincinnati, Covington & Newport, 11/27/1862.
Check out this map in our new catalog–you can zoom so far in!
Record Group 77: Records of the Office of the Chief of Engineers
Image description: A map showing the area from downtown Cincinnati to Bank Lick Creek in Covington, Kentucky. There is a lot of detail about features significant to military actions, including topography, bridges, and batteries.
Source: catalog.archives.gov
Sketch Map of the Public Surveys in Michigan, 10/26/1857
File Unit: 35th Congress, ¾/1857 - 3/3/1859
Image description: A map of both peninsulas of Michigan, neatly divided into squares. I think they mostly correspond with modern townships, which are 36 miles square. Each square is marked according to whether the field notes have been recorded, transcribed, descriptive sheets recorded, etc.
Image description: A zoomed-in view of the portion of the map where the Upper and Lower peninsulas meet. The irregular shorelines contrast with the square lines of the manmade divisions.
Source: catalog.archives.gov
“A Plan of the Town of Boston with the Intrenchments &c. of His Majestys Forces in 1775,” 10/1/1777.
File Unit: United States, 1784 - 1890
Series: Civil Works Map File, 1818 - 1947
Record Group 77: Records of the Office of the Chief of Engineers, 1789 - 1999
Image description: A map of Boston circa 1775, which was pretty hard to match up to modern Boston. Cambridge Street is the same, and Boston Common, but a mill pond covers the modern Bullfinch Triangle area, and King Street is now, of course, State Street.
Image description: Zoomed-in portion of the map, showing Cambridge Street at the top, Boston Common at the bottom, and Beacon Hill, which is just a hill. Between the Grenadier’s Magazine and an area for Light Horse is Mount Whoredom.
Source: catalog.archives.gov
A Map of the State of New Jersey, 9/25/1812
File Unit: United States, 1784 - 1890
Series: Civil Works Map File, 1818 - 1947
Record Group 77: Records of the Office of the Chief of Engineers, 1789 - 1999
Image description: A map of New Jersey, with the counties outlined in various colors. It shows towns, roads, waterways, mountains, “drowned lands,” and Lawrence’s Line, the dividing line between East and West Jersey drawn by Lawrence in 1743.
Image description: Zoomed-in view of the portion of the map showing Newark (just north of current Port Newark), New Barbados (now the Kearny Point area), Bergen (now Jersey City), and a bit of New York, which has about five streets drawn on the very tip of Manhattan.
Source: catalog.archives.gov
Island of Guam: Power and Telephone Lines, Radio Stations, Water Resources, and Possible Airfield Sites, 8/13/1942
File Unit: Mariana Islands - Guam, ca. 1941 - 1945
Series: Maps Relating to Military Operations in the Pacific Theater of War, ca. 1941 - 1945
Record Group 313: Records of Naval Operating Forces, 1849 - 1997
Image description: Map of Guam, showing power and telephone lines, possible airfield sites, springs, rivers, and water pumps, and direction and strength of wind. “CLASSIFIED” is crossed out; the map has been declassified by DOD Directive 5200.9,27.
Source: catalog.archives.gov
