The David Rumsey Historical Map Collection has over 20,000 maps and images online. The collection focuses on rare 18th and 19th century North American and South American maps and other cartographic materials. Historic maps of the World, Europe, Asia, and Africa are also represented. Collection categories antique atlas, globe, school geography, maritime chart, state, county, city, children’s, and manuscript maps. The collection can be used to study history, genealogy and family history.
The YouTube video depicts Part 3 of a talk given by David Rumsey at the March 6, 2008 launch of his historical map library and exhibition in the virtual world of Second Life. The talk was delivered at the Rumsey Map Islands in Second Life. All of the maps in the talk can also be seen and downloaded from Rumsey’s free online map library at http://www.davidrumsey.com/index.html The site makes use of the GIS (Geographic Information System) 3D viewer, a unique 3D browser based viewer that lets you fly through historic maps in three dimensions. The maps are also available in the traditional two-dimensional GIS format. David Rumsey uses a special GIS Browser that allows integration and interaction of historical maps with current geospatial data and other historical maps. Examination of the maps in GIS reveals changes in the history of the areas shown on the maps.
Eleven historical maps of the San Francisco Bay area from 1851 to 1926, eighteen historical maps of the Boston area from 1776 through 1897, over thirty historical maps covering the area of the 1804 – 1806 Lewis and Clark Expedition, 35 maps of Washington D.C., and 32 maps of New York City are now available for viewing in the GIS Browser. Additional historic maps of U.S. cities and regions will be added in the near future including Los Angeles, Chicago, Denver, Seattle, Yosemite Valley, and Lake Tahoe. The current geospatial data that can be overlaid and compared to the historical maps includes roads, lakes, parks, state boundaries, aerial photography, topographic mapsheets, digital elevation models and satellite imagery.
For more information on this topic, pleas visit this site.
