Tennessee Genealogical Society Blog
Follow TnGenSoc on
  • TnGenSoc Blog
  • Home
  • TN Genealogical Society Photos
  • Tennessee Links to Places of Interest

Using Maps for Genealogical Research

10/24/2019

0 Comments

 
PictureSanborn Fire Insurance Map from Bolivar, Hardeman County, Tennessee.
​Our October 5th post discussed county boundary changes. Not only did county boundaries change, but state lines did too. (Tennessee borders eight states.) Bill Carey, cofounder of Tennessee History for Kids, and writer for The Tennessee Magazine has several excellent articles about these boundary changes and how the lines were drawn. Old maps can be useful in determining what state and county your ancestor lived in, even if they never moved.
 
Old maps also provide other information that can help a genealogist, from identifying neighbors and locating the closest church, to identifying key transportation routes likes roads, railroads and waterways. One site for historic maps is https://www.davidrumsey.com/. There are over 90,000 maps on this site and a wealth of information. Lisa Louise Cooke has an excellent tutorial on how to use the site.
 
Another set of maps that provide a wealth of information to the genealogist wanting to learn about their ancestors that lived in a city are the Sanborn Maps. These maps were originally created by the Sanborn Map Company to assess fire risk for insurance purposes. The detailed drawings show building placement on the lot, location of doors in the building, the number of stories and construction material and much more. The Library of Congress currently has 176 of these maps available online for Tennessee and they can be accessed at  https://www.loc.gov/collections/sanborn-maps/?fa=location:tennessee.

0 Comments

Your comment will be posted after it is approved.


Leave a Reply.

    Enter your email address to receive blog posts by email:

    Delivered by FeedBurner

     Subscribe in a reader

    Ansearchin' News 
    Home

    Tennessee Genealogical Society
    Germantown Regional History
         and Genealogy Center
    7779 Poplar Pike 
    Germantown, TN 38138

    Archives

    January 2023
    April 2022
    September 2021
    August 2021
    May 2021
    December 2020
    April 2020
    March 2020
    February 2020
    October 2019
    July 2019
    March 2019
    February 2019
    November 2018
    September 2018
    July 2018
    June 2018
    April 2018
    March 2018
    February 2018
    January 2018
    December 2017
    November 2017
    September 2017
    April 2017
    October 2016
    August 2016
    May 2016
    April 2016
    January 2016
    August 2015
    July 2015
    February 2015
    October 2014
    June 2014
    April 2014
    March 2014
    January 2014
    November 2013
    September 2013
    July 2013
    June 2013
    May 2013
    April 2013
    March 2013
    February 2013
    January 2013
    December 2012
    July 2012
    May 2012
    April 2012

    Categories

    All
    African American Research
    Birth Records
    Boundary Changes
    Bounty Land
    Business
    Census
    Civil War
    Collierville
    Cordova
    Cordova Museum
    Counties
    Courthouses
    Davies Manor Plantation
    DNA
    Family
    Field Trips
    Fire
    Genealogical Proof Standard
    Genealogy
    Genealogy Education
    Genetics
    Germantown
    Google
    Land
    Lectures
    Maps
    Memphis
    Military
    Native American
    Newspaper Research
    Organizing
    Poetry
    Research
    Shelby County
    Software
    Spring Lecture Series
    Spring Seminar
    Technology
    Tennessee
    Tennessee History
    Vital Records
    Wills

Powered by Create your own unique website with customizable templates.