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Posted by: Meagan Snow
This blog post from the Geography & Map Division explores illustrated comics created by US federal government agencies to introduce the public to new geographic data technologies and file formats in the late 20th century.
Posted in: 20th century cartography, American History, Big Data and Visualization, Geographic Information Science
Posted by: Carissa Pastuch
In just under 5 months, on July 4, 2026, Americans will celebrate the United States Semiquincentennial—America’s 250th anniversary. In this post, I will highlight a few maps in the Library map collections that celebrate and are significant to establishing the new nation to include British and French mapping, a George Washington survey, and a map of Philadelphia showing the State House where the Declaration of Independence was signed.
Posted in: 18th century cartography, A250, American History, Military History
Posted by: Lena Mattson
Sanborn Map Company fire insurance surveyors successfully mapped many thousands of cities and towns across North America, but they were often viewed with suspicion by locals and they were not granted access to every building they sought to map. This post describes what happened when they were refused, and the creative ways they could sometimes get around property owners’ reservations about their work.
Posted in: 20th century cartography, American History, Reference Tools
Posted by: Amelia Raines
A few short years after the United States won its independence, Christopher Colles set out to map the roads of the new republic. Created using a perambulator he had invented, his unfinished map series remains a fascinating record of the northeastern American landscape in the late 18th century.
Posted in: 18th century cartography, A250, American History