A historical map is a treasure which contains valuable information about the past. Historical maps are great resource for people who love to explore in ancient times. With the help of internet, viewing of such maps becomes much easier. A huge collection of historical maps are available on the internet without losing the authenticity of maps. Each map undergoes a process called georeferencing which allow the old maps to be displayed in their correct geographical spaces in Earth and Google Maps. Sites which provide such maps have the perfect combination of historical masterpieces and innovative software tools for making your tour to past very interesting.
Image Source: mapas.owje.com
Some of the popular sites which can help you in providing historical maps are given below:
Oldmapsonline.org
The oldmapsonline is the perfect online library for historical maps. The site consists of locations, links, and metadata for around 60,000 historical maps. To find any old map which includes certain area, just make your search or zoom to the particular place and you will have a list of available maps on the right side of the page. Once you got the preferred map, a pop-up will provide its details as well as link to the map’s host site where you can view the map in full size.
Hence, the site enables the user to search for digital historical maps from different collections through a geographical search. You can also search by typing a place-name. Current contributors for oldmapsonline include the David Rumsey Collection, the British Library, and others. Oldmapsonline is planning to double its collection of maps by the end of 2012 with contributions from the Harvard University, New York Public Library, and several others lined up.
David Rumsey Map Collection
The David Rumsey Map Collection was founded by David Rumsey who is a map collector. The site includes over 30,000 maps with new additions being added regularly. The main focus of collection is on 18th and 19th century South American and North American maps. Historic maps of the World, Asia, Europe, and Africa are also represented. You can find maps made in 1700 to 1950s in this site. The site is loaded with full of high resolution images.
You will be provided with a variety of tools that enables you to analyze, compare, and view items in new and interesting ways. You can also create your own collections of maps by saving groups of images that you find interesting. Another remarkable thing about this site is the complete detail given with each and every map which helps in increasing the knowledge about particular historical masterpiece. The site also consist with a Google map facility. Just zoom in particular area and you will get a list of historical maps of that area in the right side of the page automatically, making your search task much easier.
Perry-Castañeda Library Map Collection
Perry-Castañeda Library Map Collection is wonderful online resource for historical maps. It is owned by the Perry-Castañeda Library at The University of Texas at Austin. In this site, the whole collection of maps is well organized and categorized under different sections like continental, world, historical, regional, and thematic maps. You can not get any image on the home page; instead a list is made with their title and information on their format. On clicking a particular title, you can download or open the map.
Maps are simple image files, so that, even less powerful computers can load them easily. The site also includes a list of other historical map sites. If you are looking around for historical maps then don’t miss Perry-Castañeda Library Map Collection where more than 11,000 map images are available and majority of them are in public domain.
Flickr.com
Flickr is one of the most popular photo sharing sites, owned by Yahoo. The site provides various options for uploading images. Either you can upload it one by one or you can go for batch uploads or upload them through email. Such easy-to-use features and flexibility make this site a great place to store, share and display images. For history lovers, Flickr started a new group called “Old Maps”. There is a huge collection of interesting historic maps which are posted by some history lovers.
Just type ‘historical maps’ in the search bar and you will get a list of historical maps with a thumbnail view. Each map is displayed with a title and name of the person who upload the image. You can use advanced search facility to get the preferred image quickly. Only registered members can upload images in this collection. To register just sign in using your yahoo mail id. However, to view and share the collection of over 1600 images, registration is not required. Visit flickr.com and take a tour in ancient times.
