USGS to offer historical topographic maps

[ArtMan]

Perhaps this has been mentioned previously in this forum, but I've just noticed that USGS is embarking on a program to scan and publish online historical topographic maps.

 

According to a Fact Sheet (PDF) issued in January —

The USGS Historical Quadrangle Scanning

Project (HQSP) is scanning all scales and all edi-

tions of approximately 250,000 topographic maps

published by the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS)

since the inception of the topographic mapping

program in 1884. This scanning will provide a

comprehensive digital repository of USGS topo-

graphic maps, available to the public at no cost.

Although some historical maps are now available online, the selection is spotty. In addition, the new project will provide georeferenced (GeoPDF®) copies, which will obviously be of great help to us as well as many other categories of users.

 

The maps were supposed to start becoming available in mid-2011, but I suspect this will be a multi-year project, with newly-scanned maps coming online gradually.

 

I've written to USGS to see if I can find out more about the status of this project, and will post info when I get a reply.

 

~ArtMan~

 

[edited to correct typo]

Edited August 21, 2011 by ArtMan

[+Rotareneg]

They already have some really handy aerial photography available through EarthExplorer that, in my area, go back to 1951. They're great for trying to find references to old railroad tracks that have been pulled out, among other things. They're not orthorectified so they won't overlay exactly over a regular map, but they're good enough at small scales.

[ArtMan]

I haven't received a reply to my inquiry yet, but just in the last few days, USGS has posted a map showing progress in the project. As you can see, most states already have a substantial number of scanned historical maps online.

 

[foxtrot_xray]

Hah! Go Colorado!

 

[Edit: Where in the USGS site can they be viewed or downloaded? Or is that not released yet?]

Edited August 25, 2011 by foxtrot_xray

[ArtMan]

Hah! Go Colorado!

 

[Edit: Where in the USGS site can they be viewed or downloaded? Or is that not released yet?]

Oops - should have included that.

 

Go to the USGS Store and click on "Map Locator," which will take you to this page.

 

Click on the link in this headline to get the map: "Historical maps available for select states now! View Status Map"

ballo

But the map itself (perhaps counter-intuitively) isn't linked to the historical maps.

 

To get to the historical maps, you apparently navigate to the area of interest in the same way you search for current maps, but the list of maps will include historical ones, when available.

 

Example, search for Washington, DC, and the available maps include 14 items going back to 1890 (though some look like they might be duplicates, but the file sizes vary, so maybe they're not).

 

Hope this helps,

~ArtMan~

1. Washington West 7.5X7.5 2011
2. Washington West 7.5X7.5 1983
3. Mount Vernon 30X30 1897
4. Mount Vernon 30X30 1897
5. Mount Vernon 30X30 1894
6. Mount Vernon 30X30 1894
7. Mount Vernon 30X30 1894
8. Mount Vernon 30X30 1894
9. Mount Vernon 30X30 1894
10. Mount Vernon 30X30 1894
11. Mount Vernon 30X30 1891
12. Mount Vernon 30X30 1890
13. Washington West 30X60 1984
14. Washington 1X2 1989

[foxtrot_xray]

Hope this helps,

~ArtMan~

 

Yup, thanks!

And .. wow. That's the MOST counter-intuitive method of selecting items to download I've ever seen!

[ArtMan]

Yup, thanks!

And .. wow. That's the MOST counter-intuitive method of selecting items to download I've ever seen!

I dunno. Your intuitive may be my counterintuitive, and vice versa. I think USGS should do a better job of guiding the user who is looking for the historical maps to the right place, but once they are there, I think it's a great idea to have current and historical maps all in one place.

 

Also: remember that until a few years ago, the way you got topo maps was to order them by mail or visit an outdoors specialty store. I love paper maps, but I wouldn't want to go back.

[foxtrot_xray]

Yup, thanks!

And .. wow. That's the MOST counter-intuitive method of selecting items to download I've ever seen!

I dunno. Your intuitive may be my counterintuitive, and vice versa. I think USGS should do a better job of guiding the user who is looking for the historical maps to the right place, but once they are there, I think it's a great idea to have current and historical maps all in one place.

 

Also: remember that until a few years ago, the way you got topo maps was to order them by mail or visit an outdoors specialty store. I love paper maps, but I wouldn't want to go back.

 

Oh, nono..

seamless.usgs.com is fantastic for this. Let me select an area that I want to grab, select the 'historic' images sets, and give 'em to me in GeoTIFF.

[ArtMan]

Oh, nono..

seamless.usgs.com is fantastic for this. Let me select an area that I want to grab, select the 'historic' images sets, and give 'em to me in GeoTIFF.

 

Actually, that's seamless.usgs.gov.

 

I just took a few minutes to look at it, and I'm baffled by what you find useful. Why don't you post a short tutorial and share your wisdom?

 

~ArtMan~

[foxtrot_xray]

Actually, that's seamless.usgs.gov.

 

I just took a few minutes to look at it, and I'm baffled by what you find useful. Why don't you post a short tutorial and share your wisdom?

Sorry - you're right .gov! D'oh.

 

Sure, see, I use the maps for my GIS program, as I like to import them and then use them on my GPS.

 

The short short version:

1. At http://seamless.usgs.gov/website/seamless/viewer.htm, first click on the "Download" tab on the right. Uncheck everything. (Will be set later.)

2. Zoom in to an area on the map. Anywhere. Zoom in so you can see smaller, secondary roads. (Just so I'm sure you zoomed in far enough.) Note that the map will sometimes take a few second to fully load your new view.

3. On the toolbar on the left, under the "Download" section, select the first option. ("Define rectangular download")

4. Select an area on the map to get.

5. Once selected, a pop-up window will open. This is where we're going to see what we CAN get.

6. Click on "Modify Data Request"

7. Go through all the layers, select the items you want, and the format.

8. When finished, download the items.

 

Yeah, more steps than the other one, but the images you get don't have borders (i.e. they're already cut and tiles for you) and (can be) in GeoTIFF, for direct import. I'd love it to be able to get the historical topos in this format - can then easily import them into your favorite GIS program!

 

To me, this is a little more intuitive than the other way - The other method I'm confused about dropping markers all over the place. Why do I need to drop a marker? Is there a difference between dropping a marker in the upper right corner of the grid as opposed to the lower left of the corner? And I can't get one seamless image if I want to cover more than two quads, or my 'selection' covers more than one quad. (Yeah, I know, in the old days maps were sold that way. But this ain't the old days anymore, and getting something in a GeoPDF proves that. My father -who taught me how to read topos when they were on paper - dosen't know what a PDF is, much less a GeoPDF. )

 

Edit - Okay, I ramble. How I find seamless useful is that I can define the areas I get my imagery for, can get multiple imagery for the same area at once, and have it pre-mosiac'd and ready for import.

Edited August 26, 2011 by foxtrot_xray