Old Northwest Territory Maps – Vintage Great Lakes Maps

Early Maps of Ohio and the West

Baldwin, Charles Candee

Cleveland, Western Reserve and Northern Ohio Historical Society 1875

1875 article and catalog of existing maps of the Great Lakes region.

Discovery and Exploration

Library of Congress

Various publishers and years of publication

More than 100 historic maps, most reflecting the European Age of Discoveries in North America, from the late 15th to the 17th centuries. Included are 18th and 19th century maps documenting the exploration of the interior of the continent, such as the Lewis and Clark expedition.

Old Maps Online

This is a collaborative portal for accessing a number of online map collections worldwide. U.S. collections include;
The David Rumsey Collection
Harvard Library Collection
New York Public Library Collection
Leventhal Map Center at Boston Public Library
North Carolina Digital Heritage Center

France in America

Library of Congress

Various publishers and years of publication

More than 100 maps from the French colonial era in North America, many of which portray the Great Lakes region.

Louisiana (French North America)

Wisconsin Historical Society

Vincenzo Coronelli 1695

This is one of the more important and well-known maps of North America from the 17th century. Coronelli used reports of early explorers in the Great Lakes area to create one of the earliest detailed maps of that region. Although Coronelli was a well-known cartographer in his time, his work was often dismissed after his death. It was centuries later that historians rediscovered his work and have shown him to have been an influential figure in his day. (Description from Website). Old maps of the Great Lakes.

Bowles Map

Darlington Digital Library

Hand-drawn 1755

Copy of a 1755 map of frontier areas west of the Appalachian Mountains.

Map of the Ohio River Valley and surrounding area

Darlington Digital Library

London: Thomas Jeffries 1755

– Vintage Great Lakes Maps

A map of the British and French settlements in North America

Library of Congress American Memory

John Lodge 175?

Covers the eastern half of North America from Hudson Bay to the Gulf of Mexico. Shows boundaries, cities and towns, forts, Indian villages and tribal territory, and “Earl Granville’s Property.” Vintage Great Lakes Maps

North America

Darlington Digital Library

London: Thomas Jefferys 1755

North America: from the French of Mr. d’Anville, improved with the back settlements of Virginia and course of Ohio, illustrated with geographical and historical remarks. Includes text on the “French incroachments” and “English title to their settlements on the continent”. (Description from website). Great Lakes historical maps.

A New and Accurate Map of the English Empire in North America Representing their Rightful Claim as Confirm’d by Charters, and the Formal Surrender of their Indian Friends, likewise the Encroachments of the French, with the Several Forts they have Unjustly Erected Therein

Indiana Historical Society Collections

London: Herbert & Sayer. 1755

– Vintage Great Lakes Maps.

“Amerique Septentrionale avec les Routes, Distances en miles, Limites et Etablissements”

Alabama Maps Collection

John Mitchell 1756

Mitchell map of British and French dominions in North America. Historical Maps of the Great Lakes.

An Accurate Map of the Present Seat of War, Between Great Britain and Her Colonies in North America

Indiana Historical Society Collections

London: Herbert & Sayer 1776

Old Northwest Map.

[Northeastern part of North America]

NYPL Digital Gallery

France: Robert de Vaugondy 1783?

Old Northwest Map.

A Map of the Back Settlements

University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign: Library

London: Stockdale 1794

The area of coverage is the Old Northwest. Old Northwest Territory Map

A Map of the North Western Territory

University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign: Library

Boston: Hill. 1796

Great Lakes historical maps.

A new map of part of the United States of North America exhibiting the Western Territory, Kentucky, Pennsylvania, Maryland, Virginia &c., also the Lakes Superior, Michigan, Huron, Ontario & Erie, with upper and lower Canada &c

Indiana Historical Society Collections

London: J. Cary. 1805

Vintage Great Lakes map.

Map of the Seat of War in North America

David Rumsey Collection

Philadelphia: Melish 1813

Covers from Labrador to Michigan and Ohio.

Upper Territories of the United States

Wisconsin Historical Society

Philadelphia: Kneass & Delleker

The Northwest Ordinance of 1787 provided that one or two states should be created from the area west of Lake Michigan and extending down to the the lake’s southern tip–the “upper territories” shown on this map. That would have placed Wisconsin’s boundary 90 miles further south than it is now. When Illinois became a state in 1818, it wanted access to the lake and managed to have its boundary moved north, depriving the future state of Wisconsin of the city of Chicago. (description from website).

Map of the States of Indiana, and Ohio, with Part of Michigan Territory, ca. 1820s

Lewis University Historic Maps

London: Hinton & Sinupkin & Marshall 1820s

Map of the States of Ohio, Indiana & Illinois and Part of Michigan Territory

Philadelphia: Finley 1827

High-resolution image of a well-preserved color map.

Western States & Territories – Old Northwest Territory Maps

Wisconsin Historical Society

Philadelphia: J.H. Young 1832

Historic Great Lakes maps.

Guide through Ohio, Michigan, Indiana, Illinois, Missouri, Wisconsin & Iowa: showing the township lines of the United States surveys, location of cities, towns, villages, post hamlets, canals, rail and stage roads

Wisconsin Historical Society

NY: Smith, John Calvin 1839

This lovely hand-colored map was removed from J.H. Colton’s Western Tourist and Emigrant’s Guide (New York, 1839). Inset tables list steamboat routes and distances by water, and a vignette of Maidens Rock, on Lake Pepin, appears near the lower margin. This copy retains its elaborate printed border; boundaries and regions are highlighted with water-color. (Description from website).

Map of the Western States

Wisconsin Historical Society

NY: Atwood, John M. 1849

This map graphically displays the contrasting degrees of settlement in the states and territories of the Old Northwest.

Map of the La Crosse and Milwaukee Rail Road and Connections

Collection

NY: Colton, J.H. 1855

Map of the northeastern and north-central United States indicating major drainage, larger cities, state boundaries, and the railroad network.

American Indians and Alaska Natives in the United States

American Indians and Alaska Natives in Alaska

U.S. Census Bureau

U.S. Census Bureau 2011

These two large maps, produced by the U.S. Census Bureau from 2010 census data, show the location of American Indian lands throughout the U.S. The first link shows the 48 states, and the second is for Alaska only. Inset charts show the populations of the ten largest tribal groupings.

Sanborn Maps at Library of Congress

The Sanborn maps are extremely detailed maps of cities and villages produced by the Sanborn Company for use by fire insurance agents in the late 19th and early 20th centuries. The maps are at a scale of 50-feet to one-inch. Some of the maps for the largest cities in the U.S. were over 100 pages. Maps show individual buildings, the construction materials used, and the purpose of the building. Sometimes the company name is included for business buildings.

This Library of Congress free online collection has over 35,000 online Sanborn maps for thousands of U.S. cities and villages. Many towns have more than one map produced over several decades. When searching for a town in Advanced Search, choose a state first to see the complete list of cities in that state. See “About this Collection” (at the Sanborn page) for a full explanation of the symbols and conventions used in the maps.

The Ohio and Mississippi Pilot consisting of a set of charts of those rivers

representing their channels, islands, ripples, rapids, shoals, bars, rocks, &c accompanied with directions for the use of navigators,to which is added a Geography of the States and Territories west and south of the Allegheny Mountains

Gilleland, J.C.

Pittsburg: Patterson & Lambdin 1820

Early Maps of the Ohio Valley : a Selection of Maps, Plans, and Views Made by Indians and Colonials from 1673 to 1783

Brown, Lloyd A., comp.

Pittsburgh: University of Pittsburgh Press 1959

This contains descriptions of and information about over 50 early maps, but does not contain copies of the maps.