Research Guides: Maps, Atlases & Gazetteers: Online Atlases &amp; Map Collections

Finding Maps in Digital Collections & Databases

Not sure where to go to browse and search for digitized maps? The digital collections and databases listed on this page are excellent places to start. Feel free to contact our librarians if you need help tracking down a map or atlas.

Local Collections

The following collections are located within the Boston Metro Area.

Digital Commonwealth: Massachusetts Collections Online: Maps/Atlases
Access to digitized copies of maps and atlases held by Massachusetts libraries, museums, historical societies, and archives.
Harvard Map Collection
Site includes geospatial data sets and georeferenced maps. Coverage includes international materials.
Leventhal Map Center at the Boston Public Library
200,000 historical maps and 5000 atlases. Many are digitized and online at this site.
Massachusetts Real Estate Atlas Digitization Project by the State Library
Digital collection of MA real estate atlases dating from the late 19th and early 20th centuries. Atlases can be viewed/downloaded in PDF format or as individual images (Flickr).

Global Coverage

American Geographical Society Library Digital Map Collection
Collection of digitized maps, ranging from early maps of Asia to historical maps of Wisconsin and Milwaukee, and other American cities, states, and national parks.
American Memory Map Collection (Library of Congress)
Selection of digitized maps from the largest collection of cartographic works in the world.
British Library Map Collection
One of the largest map collections in the world, with a chronological coverage of over 2000 years and a geographical coverage spanning the globe.
David Rumsey Historical Map Collection
This historical map collection has over 68,000 maps and images online. The collection includes rare 16th through 21st century maps of America, North America, South America, Europe, Asia, Africa, Pacific, and the World.
Digital Public Library of America
Digitized materials from libraries, archives and museums around the country.
NY Public Library: Maps & Atlases Collection
Coverage includes maps and atlases for multiple continents, but the majority of the content focuses on the United States.
Princeton University Library: Digital Maps & Geospatial Data
Scanned historic, topographic, geoscientific, bathymetric, and Sanborn fire insurance maps. Site also includes vector and raster data.
UT-Austin Perry-Castañeda Library of Historical Maps
Includes maps of early settlements, territorial growth, military history and later history.

Asia

David Parry Southeast Asian Map Collection
The collection includes 254 maps dating from the 15th to 19th centuries. It contains maps produced by prominent cartographers of that period, including Gastaldi, Linschoten, Bellin, Blaeu, Ortelius, Mercator, Hondius, Münster and de Bry, as well as several printed editions of Ptolemy maps, which include some of the earliest references to Singapore and the Malay Peninsula.

North America

Mapping Inequality: Redlining in New Deal America
Mapping Inequality introduces viewers to the records of the Home Owners’ Loan Corporation on a scale that is unprecedented. Here you can browse more than 150 interactive maps and thousands of “area descriptions.” These materials afford an extraordinary view of the contours of wealth and racial inequality in Depression-era American cities and insights into discriminatory policies and practices that so profoundly shaped cities that we feel their legacy to this day.

Library Databases with Maps

The following library databases include digitized maps and atlases. For a full list of library databases, go to Databases A-Z.

American History, 1493-1945 This link opens in a new window
Collection of digitized primary source materials covering American history from 1493 to 1945. Includes unique manuscripts, along with maps, engravings, posters, broadsides, and pamphlets covering colonial America through World War II.
Ancestry Library This link opens in a new window
Full text of 1790-1950 US census records, UK and Ireland census collection, immigration collection, military records, and birth, marriage and death records. An excellent resource for research in genealogy.
China: Trade, Politics and Culture 1793-1980 This link opens in a new window
Digital manuscripts covering monumental social and political upheaval in China. Includes color paintings, maps and drawings by English and Chinese artists, as well as photographs, essays, articles, sketches and ephemeral items, all depicting Chinese people, places, customs and events, history or art relating to China and the West, 1793-1980.
JSTOR This link opens in a new window
Archive of scholarly journals and ebooks spanning many disciplines, primarily in the humanities and social sciences. Often does not have the last 1-3 years of a publication. Use Advanced Search to select specific subject areas.
ProQuest Congressional This link opens in a new window
Access digitized historic maps from the U.S. Serial set. Narrow search results by document type to display just maps and publications with maps.
World Heritage Sites: Africa (JSTOR) This link opens in a new window
Links visual, contextual, and spatial documentation of African heritage sites. Includes materials relevant to African studies, anthropology, archaeology, architecture, art history, Diaspora studies, folklore and literature, geography, and history, as well as geomatics, advanced visual and spatial technologies, historic preservation, and urban planning. The collection is also a tool for experts and professionals engaged in the conservation and management of cultural heritage sites.