Geographical Resources
Civil and church records, as well as archival collections, are organized by geographic location. An important first step to locating these records is to determine your ancestors' town of origin. This can be further complicated by language and border changes, which means its important to consult resources like maps, gazetteers, atlases, guidebooks, and town directories.
Maps
Polonia
Map of Poland, 1681
Poland and its dismemberments and Prussia, 1798
Map of Poland, 1814
Online Resources
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Skorowidz Gazetteer Online to find parish locations
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Spis Gazetteer, Volume 1, provinces and locations of civil registration offices
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Mapa.Szukacz.pl with modern provinces, jurisdictions, population, postal codes
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Historische Pläne und Grundrisse von Städten und Ortschaften in Polen , bibliography of old maps
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The website of the Małopolskie Towarzystwo Genealogiczne [Little Poland Genealogical Society] - tons of digitized directories, address books, catalogs, schematisms, etc... helpful for the former province of Galicia.
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Library of Congress research guide, Cartographic Resources for Genealogical Research: Eastern Europe and Russia
Map Division
The Lionel Pincus and Princess Firyal Map Division,
The New York Public Library.
Stephen A. Schwarzman Building,
476 Fifth Avenue (42nd St and Fifth Ave)
First Floor, Room 117.
Contact: maps@nypl.org
Gazetteers
- Postal place names in Poland = Nazwy pocztowe na ziemiach Polskich = Postortsnamen in Polen : a philatelic gazetteer byCall Number: *R-Map Div. DK4035 .K39 1992Publication Date: 1992
- Poland : a traveller's gazetteer byPublication Date: 2001
- Słownik geografii turystycznej Polski byCall Number: DK4030.P656 1956 vol.1Publication Date: 1956Dictionary of Polish tourist geography. [Editorial committee: Chairman: Maria Irena Mileska; members: Jerzy Kondracki et al. Co-authors: Jerzy Brinken et al.]
- Atlas geograficzny illustrowany Królestwa Polskiego, na podstawie najnowszych źródeł opracowany. byCall Number: *QR+ 06-6009 textPublication Date: 1904Illustrated geographical atlas of the Kingdom of Poland, based on the latest sources.