UPDATE: This website closed down on 1 January 2026 after 30+ years.

Maps are an integral part of genealogy research. Between immigration from other countries, family migrations within a country and changing local, county, state and country borders, researchers would be lost without access to historical maps.

Map History/History of Cartography is a new-to-me website that offers a fabulous array of maps with links to many different collections.

There are several ways to search the website:

Searches can be completed via links on the left side of the home page, through the Index, the Site Map and Map Articles.

It’s important to understand that this website doesn’t host map collections itself. Instead, it is more like a clearing house with links to Map Image Sites that do have map collections.’

There are all kinds of map links, information about map making and it even has a special link for the family historian!

The host/maintainer of Map History/History of Cartography is Tony Campbell, former map librarian at the British Library in London, England.

This website is free, easy to use and contains links to maps from around the world. It’s worth taking the time to check out all the various links and resources.