Maps & Places
Historical maps, cadastral maps, gazetteers, aerial photography, and place-name tools for research into locations through time.
Rating: start here first · strong source · specific cases
Historic Maps
| Priority | Source | Description | Region | Access | Language |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| David Rumsey Historical Map Collection | Large collection of high-resolution historical maps from many countries and periods. Private collection; check reuse terms. | International | Free | EN | |
| Library of Congress Maps | LOC map collections including historical, military, regional, and thematic maps. Rights vary by item. | United States | Free | EN | |
| National Library of Scotland Maps | Major historical map portal. Particularly strong for Britain: OS maps, town plans, military maps, and aerial photography. | United Kingdom | Free | EN | |
| Old Maps Online | Aggregates historical maps from major institutions including BL, NLS, David Rumsey, and others. Single search interface across multiple collections. | International | Free | EN | |
| TrenchMapper | Interactive tool overlaying WWI trench maps and aerial photos onto modern satellite imagery of WWI battlefields. Western Front Association + Imperial War Museums. | Western Europe (WWI) | Free | EN | |
| Arcanum Maps / MAPIRE | Historical country, city, cadastral, and military maps, especially strong for Central and Eastern Europe and former Habsburg lands. | Europe | Mixed | Multiple | |
| USGS topoView | Historical U.S. topographic maps from the USGS Historical Topographic Map Collection, downloadable in several formats. | United States | Free | EN | |
| Topotijdreis | Time-slider interface for roughly 200 years of Dutch topographic maps. | Netherlands | Free | NL | |
| Meyers Gazetteer | Searchable gazetteer for the German Empire with integrated historical maps and place-name context. | German Empire | Free | EN/DE | |
| Lantmateriet Historical Maps | Swedish historical map collections, including land-survey and cadastral material. | Sweden | Free | SV/EN | |
| Gesher Galicia Map Room | Cadastral maps, town maps, and inventories for historical Galicia and related Jewish genealogical research. | Galicia / Habsburg lands | Free | EN | |
| GSI Maps | Japanese topographic maps, aerial photographs, elevation data, and comparison tools from the Geospatial Information Authority of Japan. | Japan | Free | JA |
War and Military Maps
| Priority | Source | Description | Region | Access | Language |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| West Point Digital Atlases | Campaign and battle atlases from the U.S. Military Academy, covering major conflicts from early wars through modern U.S. campaigns. | International | Free | EN | |
| Perry-Castaneda WWII Maps | World War II map collection with European Theater, Pacific, D-Day, and U.S. Army historical maps. | International / WWII | Free | EN | |
| McMaster WWI Trench Maps and Aerial Photographs | World War I trench maps and aerial photographs with grid browsing, place names, and trench-name indexing. | Western Front / WWI | Free | EN | |
| Project '44 Map | Interactive World War II map using war diaries, aerial photos, and archival records to trace unit positions and liberation routes. | Western Europe / WWII | Free | EN/FR | |
| Stanford OSS Maps | World War II maps produced or used by the Office of Strategic Services across Europe, Asia, and North Africa. | International / WWII | Free | EN | |
| MapyWIG / Mapster | Polish Military Geographical Institute maps and German 1919-1945 map material for Poland and Central/Eastern Europe. | Poland / Central Europe | Free | EN/PL | |
| WarSampo | Finnish wartime data portal with events, places, maps, municipalities, and war diaries from the Winter War, Continuation War, and Lapland War. | Finland / WWII | Free | FI/EN | |
| OpenHistoricalMap | Open, wiki-style historical map project for mapping places, borders, events, and changes over time. | International | Free | EN | |
| Australian War Memorial Western Front Maps Guide | Research guide to First World War Western Front trench maps and how to use them for unit-location research. | Australia / Western Front | Free guide | EN | |
| TracesOfWar Maps | Chronological military-historical map section, especially useful for World War II European context. | Europe / WWII | Free | EN/NL |
Aerial Photography and Landscape Change
| Priority | Source | Description | Region | Access | Language |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Remonter le temps — IGN | French national mapping agency platform for historical maps and aerial imagery. Useful for studying French landscape change over time. Map interface only; not a text archive. | France | Free | FR | |
| BruCiel | Brussels historical aerial imagery and map viewer from urban.brussels. Useful for tracking buildings, streets, and landscape change in the Brussels region. | Belgium | Free | FR/NL | |
| USGS EarthExplorer | Search portal for satellite imagery, aerial photographs, and cartographic products. | International | Free / account | EN | |
| ArcGIS World Imagery Wayback | Archive of older Esri World Imagery basemap versions, useful for recent landscape change comparison. | International | Free | EN | |
| National Collection of Aerial Photography | Large UK-based aerial photography archive with UK and international holdings. | UK / International | Mixed | EN | |
| Retrolens | Historic New Zealand aerial photographs, with map-based searching and downloads for many surveys. | New Zealand | Free | EN |
Cemetery Maps and Locations
| Priority | Source | Description | Region | Access | Language |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Commonwealth War Graves Commission | CWGC provides cemetery locations and grave maps for Commonwealth war cemeteries worldwide. | UK / Commonwealth | Free | EN | |
| Volksbund Gräbersuche Online | German War Graves Commission provides cemetery locations and burial records for German war dead. | Germany / International | Free | DE |
Broader Archives with Map Holdings
| Priority | Source | Description | Region | Access | Language |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Gallica (BnF) | BnF digital library includes a strong collection of French and international historical maps and plans. | France | Free | FR/EN | |
| Europeana | European cultural heritage aggregator includes map and cartographic collections from EU institutions. | Europe-wide | Free / mixed | Multiple | |
| Cartesius (Belgium) | Belgian historical map portal for Belgian cartography. | Belgium | Needs verification | NL/FR | |
| GeoNames | Worldwide gazetteer and place-name database with downloadable data. | International | Free | EN | |
| World Historical Gazetteer | Linked historical place records across time, language, and datasets. | International | Free | EN | |
| Pleiades | Open gazetteer of ancient places and spaces, especially useful for Greco-Roman and ancient-world research. | Ancient world | Free | EN | |
| swisstopo Journey Through Time | Swiss historical maps and aerial photographs in a time-travel map interface. | Switzerland | Free | DE/FR/IT/EN |