Maps as a Resource for Visualizing Historical Travels
Vintage maps that show specific, established routes of travel, whether by road, rail, waterway, or flight line, are a great way to see what the options for past journeys might have been and to narrow down the specifics of possible point to point routes via a particular mode in a certain period of time and place. With the catalogs, finding aids, cartobibliographies, databases, and websites available, it is often possible to discover such maps that aid in reconstructing a particular trip. Use the dropdown menu on the Maps tab above and select the category of maps concentrating on the appropriate mode of travel to find examples of a wide array of maps accessible at the Lionel Pincus and Princess Firyal Map Division and beyond.
Please note that informative maps can often be found within guidebooks; make sure to also check out the Travel Guides tab above for some examples.
In addition, we do recommend utilizing these types of maps with timestables, which you can learn about on the Timetables page on this Research Guide.
International Railway and Steamship Connections NYPL Digital Collections Image ID 1253757
Secondary resources
In addition to locating the specific travel routes illustrated by primary source maps - produced around the same time as the journey being researched - or in order to supplement research with contextual information, you might want to look at secondary resources that compile information from primary sources about travel routes and travel times.
See, for example, the following atlases that are wonderful supplements to primary source maps:
- Atlas of the Historical Geography of the United States
- *R-Map Div. G1200 .P32 1932
- Digitally available, via University of Richmond, where the maps have been georectified onto a modern map.
- To access the transportation maps in this digitized version of the atlas: on the home page, click Table of Contents. In the resulting section, click "Industries and Transportation, 1620-1931." You will see a list of maps related to historical travels - click the ones that are of interest to see them georectified onto the modern map. Once you do so, make sure to click "text" on the right-side panel to get historical context of the map, as well!
- Atlas zur Eisenbahn-geschichte : Deutschland, Österreich, Schweiz
- *R-Map Div. G1797.21.P3 G4 1986
- Focuses on Europe, with attention to Germany, Austria, and Switzerland.
- Canals and railroads of the Mid-Atlantic States, 1800-1860
- *R-Map Div. HE395.A12 B33 1981
- A commercial & historical atlas of the world's airways. 1925
- Map Div. (Commercial & historical atlas of the world's airways. 1925)
- Historical atlas of the North American railroad.
- *R-Map Div. HE2751 .H327 2010
- Lines of country : an atlas of railway and waterway history in Canada
- Map Div. 97-14055
- Maps showing early transportation in the United States.
- Map Div.+ (United States) (Maps showing early transportation in the United States. 1939)
- National atlas showing canals, navigable rivers, mineral tramroads, railways, and street tramways.
- Map Div. 90-2
- Focuses on Great Britain.
- Pioneer atlas of the American West; containing facsimile reproductions of maps and indexes from the 1876 first edition of Rand, McNally & Co.'s Business atlas of the great Mississippi Valley and Pacific slope; together with contemporary railroad maps and travel literature.
- Map Div.++ (United States) (Rand, McNally & Company. Pioneer atlas of the American West. 1956)
- A railroad atlas of the United States in 1946.
- *R-Map Div. G1246.P3 .C3