📜 Archives

🗺️ Cartographic Records

Explore historical maps including military surveys, city plans, and topographic records from the 1400s to 1900s.

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Era Span

1400-1900 CE

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Content Type

Military charts, city maps, topographic surveys, and exploratory atlases

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Digital Format

High-resolution TIFF and PDF/A files with geolocation metadata

Highlighted Cartographic Works

15th Century Map

Atlantic Exploration Charts

Portolan charts from Portuguese explorers detailing 1492 voyages to the New World.

17th Century Map

London's Great Fire Survey

Post-fire reconstruction plans from 1666 with detailed building-by-building layouts.

18th Century Map

Industrial Revolution Routes

Railroad development maps showing 1825-1850 network across Germany and France.

19th Century Map

Urban Planning Blueprints

1890s Chicago zoning maps and architectural development proposals.

🗺️ Cartographic Evolution

1400

First portolan charts appear in Mediterranean maritime trade centers

1507

Martin Waldseemüller creates the first map to name "America"

1785

Military survey techniques revolutionize battlefield cartography

🗺️ Map Preservation Methods

Climate Control

Historical maps stored in cold storage at 45°F with <15% humidity to prevent ink degradation.

Digital Archiving

Each map is georeferenced and digitized at 1200 DPI with multispectral imaging to capture all cartographic details.

Explore Other Collections

📜 Medieval Manuscripts

Digitized vellum and parchment documents from 1050-1450CE including royal decrees.

📘 Modern History

Primary sources from 1900-2020 including political manifestos and war correspondences.

📸 Photo Archives

Glass negatives and daguerreotype scans from 1839 to present day.