Olin Library - Maps & Geospatial Information

Schuyler 1857 Land Ownership Maps
A Guide to Olin Library Holdings

Land ownership maps and atlases are a special kind of map which emerged in Canada and the United States during the nineteenth century. These maps show the ownership of land parcels and emphasize the identities of individual residents in rural areas. In addition to land ownership information, the maps depict the main natural and cultural features of an area, the rivers, vegetation, hills, towns, roads and railroads. This new mapping offered far more detail and accuracy than had existed before. During that period of rapid population expansion and social change the maps were very popular with the local farmers and merchants. Nowadays, the maps have become a valuable source for reconstructing the rural landscape and cultural life of one hundred and fifty years ago.

Holdings:
The maps held in Olin Library have been copied from maps held in the Geography and Map Division of the Library of Congress -- hence LC G&M -- and are reproduced on microfiche. At present our holdings include only those states lying east of the Mississippi River. Consult Land Ownership Maps : A Checklist of Nineteenth Century United States County Maps in the Library of Congress (MAPS Z 6027 U59 U47) for further information about the maps held at the Library of Congress.

To locate the microfiche numbers for the sets of maps which are held at Cornell, try a keyword search in the CU Library Catalog using one of the following strategies. Within each state's grouping, the microfiche are arranged alphabetically by county name, and then chronologically by date of the original map. 

Keywords: county name and maps
e.g. Tompkins and maps

Keywords: county name and LC
e.g. Steuben and LC

Keywords: state name and land ownership
e.g. Ohio and land ownership
Last updated on August 17, 2000
by Susan Greaves
B16 Olin Library, Cornell University