Economic map of Colorado from 1877, showing the primary economic activities in the state. Categories, which include land cover as well, include: Agriculture — Grazing (Pasture) — Pine Forest — Pinion Pines and Cedars — Quaking Aspen — Sage and Bad Land — Coal — Gold — Silver — Above Timber Line.

Agricultural land was determined by “the quality of soil, the availability of position and the present capacity of water supply for irrigation.”

In addition to showing several types of coal-bearing areas (type of area, not type of coal), this map also indicates locations of coal mines.

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Drainage map of Colorado, showing all major and many minor rivers and streams in the then-new state. The content is drawn from a consolidation of several government surveys in the area up to that time, including that of Clarence King (north of the 40th parallel).

Topography was prepared by A.D. Wilson, G.R. Bechler, Henry Gannett, G.B. Chittenden, and S.B. Ladd. Gannett in particular would rise to fame in cartographic circles for his contributions to government mapping (in both the U.S. Geological Survey as well as the Census Bureau) in the late 19th century.

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Beautifully colored geology map of Colorado, consolidating information from both Hayden’s Survey as well as that of Clarence King. At the time more was known of the geology east of the 104th meridian than west of it, as indicated in the notes under the title. The geological breakdown is simple on this map, though the sectional maps in this atlas cover each area with more complex geological categorization.

Towns, railroads, Indian Reservations, and various geographical names are all included on the map.

Also shown on the map are index outlines for six more detailed sheets from the same atlas.

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Title Translation: New Amsterdam in America

This is a birds-eye view of Lisbon, Portugal (not New Amsterdam), though is also ostensibly a French-language map of what is supposed to be New Amsterdam in 1672, created by French map-maker Gérard Jollain. Buildings are represented pictorially, with major buildings labeled on the map.

Though a smaller-scale inset shows “La Nouvelle Holande en l’Amerique” (New Holland in America) more or less accurately in the upper left corner, the main map itself is largely “from the Civitates Orbis Terrarum, published by Braun & Hogenberg in Cologne in 1617″–Strange Maps blog post from February 2010. Strange Maps has a good, lengthy discussion of this obviously plagiarized map.

Some labels, like Quebec on the upper right portion of the map, defy explanation altogether.

The map is oriented with north to the left. Descriptive text (one of the few parts of the map not stolen from the Lisbon map) at the bottom is in Latin on the left, translated to the French on the right. The rest of the map is in French.

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Title Translation: Manhattan Situated on the North River

Dutch-language hand-drawn pen-and-ink/watercolor map of Manhattan in the 1630s, located in what was then part of the Holland’s New Amsterdam colony. Though the title includes the word ‘Noot’, this is a handwriting error and should be Noort (for North River, later called the Hudson River). Numbers on the map refer to the included list of major buildings and locations. Depths for a few locations are indicated through soundings. Indian settlements are indicated by Long House icons, and windmills by a windmill icon.

Among the prominent names listed on the map are: Eylant Manatus (Manhattan Island), Eylant Staten (Staten Island), Fort Amsterdam, and the Noort River. This map is oriented with north toward the right.

This map is generally ascribed to Joan Vinckeboons, though it is not absolutely certain that he was the cartographer. Date of 1639 also is a best-guess attribution.

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Detailed map of the city of Baltimore in 1822, showing wards, streets, and many significant banks, churches, and markets. Fire companies, with what appears to be the date of their establishment, are listed in the lower right corner. Ward population statistics from the 1820 Census are included in the upper right.

Unusual for the time in map-making generally though certainly not unheard of in surveying, prominent early American cartographer Fielding Lucas used the term perches as a unit of measurement for his scale. For this map, the perch is equal to 16.5 feet, the equivalent of a rod. The terms perch and rod are often used interchangeably for surveys, though perch has sometimes been defined as longer than this.

How common the term was in America at this time, or whether Baltimore surveyors tended to use this term more than other areas, I am not sure.

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General cadastral map of Butler County, Pennsylvania in 1860, compiled from the surveys of several people, including David Scott, the county surveyor, though the publisher is not given. Names of property owners and their property boundaries are included, though measurements are not included at this scale. Ads for attorneys and other businesses are situated along the margins of the map.

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Bucks County transportation map showing roads, railroads, route numbers, and township lines for local areas in the county. Detailed feature information includes types of buildings and road surfaces. Cultural features date from 1939, though the transportation network is updated to 1950.

Base Map Reproduced Courtesy of the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, Department of Transportation. Original Map Base Copyrighted © 2010 by the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania. All Rights Reserved.

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This map has an accompanying sheet (sheet 1) showing the main county transportation map.

Bucks County transportation map showing roads, railroads, route numbers, township lines, and a location map. Detailed feature information includes types of buildings and road surfaces. Cultural features date from 1939, though the transportation network is updated to 1950.

Base Map Reproduced Courtesy of the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, Department of Transportation. Original Map Base Copyrighted © 2010 by the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania. All Rights Reserved.

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This map has an accompanying sheet (sheet 2) showing local area details.

Berks County transportation map showing roads, railroads, route numbers, township lines for local areas within the county. Detailed feature information includes types of buildings and road surfaces. Cultural features date from 1950, though the transportation network is updated to 1953.

Base Map Reproduced Courtesy of the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, Department of Transportation. Original Map Base Copyrighted © 2010 by the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania. All Rights Reserved.

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This map has an accompanying sheet (sheet 1) showing the main Berks County map for 1953.