Historical Data and Maps

The following links point to NCSU collections, regional sources, and large volume websites for online historical data and maps.

• Digital Sanborn Maps, 1867-1970
  Sanborn maps covering the United States are available to NCSU researchers through the NC LIVE Web site. Patrons of North Carolina public libraries and other schools have access to North Carolina maps through NC LIVE. See the Digital Sanborn Maps webpage for more information.

• Historic topographic map images
  NCSU Libraries collection. Georeferenced maps of NC, 15-minute series. Dates range from early 1900's to 1950's.

• North Carolina Maps
  Collaborative digitization project by the North Carolina State Archives, North Carolina Collection at UNC-Chapel Hill, and Outer Banks History Center. Contains hundreds of maps from the late 1500s to the 1960s, and includes at least one detailed map for each NC county.

• Historic Aerial Photographs
  NCSU Libraries maintaines a listing of sources for both digital scans and prints.

• North Carolina County Road Maps
  Maps showing state maintained roads, by county. Eight collections, spanning from 1930-1968 in TIF and PDF formats.
  See Also: Archived State Travel Maps for NC.

• NC Maps for Genealogy Research
  County Formation Maps for NC, 1664-Present. Links to historical records and other states.

• NC Historic County Boundaries
  UNC doctoral research, GIS shapefiles for download of past boundary lines.

• Carolina Places in Time
  Many old maps for North and South Carolina, and especially the Charlotte/Mecklenburg area.

• Trading Path Association
  An organization based in Hillsborough, NC that focuses on mapping and preserving former trading routes, stream fords, mills, and relics from the past. The staff use GPS and GIS extensively for mapping, and welcome project collaboration.

• Tennessee Online Historic Topographic Maps
  Ongoing project to scan and georeference topographic maps for online access.

• The Library of Congress American Memory Project
  Many map collections including National Parks, Railroads, Revolutionary War, and Civil War.

• William P. Cumming Map Society
  Website for a North Carolina based cartographic society. Links to maps from the 16th-19th centuries focussing on southern US and North Carolina.

• David Rumsey Historical Map Collection
  Over 10,000 maps online focusing on rare 18th and 19th century North and South America maps and other cartographic materials. Historical maps of the World, Europe, Asia and Africa are also represented.

• National Historic GIS (NHGIS)
  Over 12,000 aggregate US Census tables and 430 GIS shapefiles spanning the entire United States from 1790 to 2010, available for download on a free website.

• Historical Census Browser
  University of Virginia supported site that contains population and economic Census data for 1790-1960 for US states and Counties.

• County and City Data Books
  Online access to electronic versions of the 1988, 1994 and 2000 County and City Data Books published by the U.S. Census Bureau. Primarily a ranking resource, a wide range of demographic, economic, political, and health topics are covered. Data are available for states, counties, cities, and places.

• Maptech's Historic Topographic Map collection
  Archive of old USGS topo maps for Northeastern US states.