Old Wisconsin maps, old Milwaukee maps, Wisconsin historical map. All maps are free online.
Wisconsin historical gazetteers, 1800s Wisconsin, old Wisconsin atlases, old Wisconsin county maps, vintage Wisconsin maps.
The works below are in three sections; ‘Old Wisconsin Maps – Old Milwaukee Maps’, online ‘Collections – Old Wisconsin Maps and Atlases’ and ‘Old Wisconsin Gazetteers’ (geographical directories).
Old Wisconsin Maps – Old Milwaukee Maps
Facsimile of a Map of Father Marquette – Wisconsin Historical Map
Wisconsin Historical Society
1673
Between May and September 1673, Father Jacques Marquette and Louis Joliet crossed what is now Wisconsin and traveled down the Mississippi River as far as Arkansas before returning; they were the first Europeans to do so. This is a facsimile of a map believed to have been drawn by Father Marquette describing their travels. Recognizable features include Green Bay, the Fox and Wisconsin River portage, and the Mississippi River, called here the Conception.
– Summary from Wisconsin Historical Society site.
Map of Wisconsin-Minnesota region, extending from Lake Superior and Lake Michigan west to Lake du Bois, White Bear Lake, and Goose Lake – Old Wisconsin Maps
Wisconsin Historical Society
Created by Carver, Jonathan 1769
This map is an early-20th-c. photostat of a manuscript in the British Library. From 1766-1768, Carver traveled down the Fox-Wisconsin route, up the Mississippi and Minnesota rivers, and north to Grand Portage on Lake Superior, returning to Mackinac along the lakeshore. In 1769 he went to London, where he drew this map to illustrate his travels. A revised version of this map appeared when his book was published in 1778. – Summary from Wisconsin Historical Society site.
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Plan of Captain Carver’s Travel in the Interior Parts of North America in 1766 and 1767 – Wisconsin Historical Maps
Wisconsin Historical Society
Created by Carver, Jonathan 1778
This map comes from Jonathan Carver’s book Travels Through the Interior Parts of North America. The book and accompanying maps, which can be found on this website at the ‘Great Lakes – Explorers and Travelers‘ page, played a major role in how people thought of the western side of the continent until expeditions were able to travel there themselves. Carver never made it much past the Mississippi, but accounts and tales that he gathered were used to make a map that went all the way to the Pacific Ocean. – Summary from Wisconsin Historical Society site.
Map of the Territories of Michigan and Ouisconsin – Old Wisconsin Maps
Wisconsin Historical Society
Created by Farmer, John 1830
John Farmer established his map company in Detroit in 1825, and his popular, accurate and detailed maps publicized the states of the Northwest Territory and encouraged settlement. The multitude of detailed notes on this map refer to explorers like Stephen Long and Henry Schoolcraft, name many Indians, and point out many geographic and cultural features.
– Summary from Wisconsin Historical Society site.
A Map of a Portion of the Indian Country lying East and West of the Mississippi River – Old Wisconsin Maps
Featherstonaugh. 1835
This includes all the rivers in the region, and the approximate locations of Native American tribes.
Map of the Territory of Wisconsin – Old Wisconsin Maps
Wisconsin Historical Society
Creator: Burr, David H. 1836
“This map shows various Indian land cessions in the Wisconsin Territory, which in 1836 included what is now Iowa, Minnesota, and parts of North and South Dakota. It accompanied a government report recommending the establishment of a government surveyor’s office west of Lake Michigan to survey the ceded lands and make them available for sale to settlers.”
– Summary from Wisconsin Historical Society site. It serves as a Wisconsin Indian tribes map, showing approximate locations of some major tribes as of the early 1830s. Wisconsin historical maps.
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Map of the Settled Part of Wisconsin Territory – Old Wisconsin Maps
Rumsey
Creator: Young, James Hamilton 1838
Ten years before statehood, settlement in Wisconsin was almost entirely restricted to the area south of the Fox and Wisconsin Rivers. The inset map shown here depicts the original extent of the territory, including parts of what are now Minnesota, Iowa, and North and South Dakota.
Map of Historic Wisconsin Territory.
State of Wisconsin – Old Wisconsin Map
Wisconsin Historical Society
Creator: Lapham, Increase Allen 1852
Increase A. Lapham’s many activities included map-making, here represented by one of the first maps of Wisconsin published in the state. This map is based on the reports of U.S. General Land Office surveyors, and incorporates the most recent information on roads, topography and settlements. – Summary from Wisconsin Historical Society site.
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Colton’s Township Map of the State of Wisconsin – Old Wisconsin Maps
Wisconsin Historical Society
Creator: Colton, George Woolworth 1854
This 1854 brightly-colored map exhaustively marks the townships, county towns and villages of Wisconsin. It also shows rivers, canals, railroads, and plank roads. Each county’s population, farms and productive establishments in 1840 and 1850 are listed in the top left corner of the map, along with a chart showing the state’s caucasian, free colonists and slave population in the two respective years. – Summary from Wisconsin Historical Society site. Antique Wisconsin map.
Sectional Map of Wisconsin – Vintage Wisconsin Maps
David Rumsey Map Collection
Chapman, Silas
Silas Chapman published an 1855 map of southern Wisconsin to be used with his 1855 edition of Handbook of Wisconsin (on the Wisconsin General History page of this website). This 1856 edition of his map extends to the northern part of the state. Vintage Wisconsin map.
Map of Milwaukee County – Old Wisconsin Maps
Wisconsin Historical Society
Creator: Lipman, Louis 1858
This 1858 map of Milwaukee County and eastern Waukesha County shows sections, towns, cities and villages, roads, railroads, railroad stations, post offices, lakes and streams, prairies, wetlands, and selected churches, schools, taverns, and justices of the peace. An inset shows the plat of the village of Wauwatosa.
– Summary from Wisconsin Historical Society site. Old Milwaukee Map.
Redding and Watson’s Map of Racine County, Wisconsin from Actual Surveys Old Map of Racine County Wisconsin
Wisconsin Historical Society
Creator: Redding, T. B. 1858
This 1858 map of Racine County, Wisconsin, shows land ownership and acreages, the township and range grid, towns, cities and villages, roads, railroads, schools, mills, churches, cemeteries, residences, marshes, timber lots, and lakes and streams. Text provides a description of the county and a history of the city of Racine and illustrations depict buildings in Racine. Inset maps and business directories are provided for Racine, Rochester, Burlington, and Waterford and a table lists the value of manufactures in Racine for 1855. – Summary from Wisconsin Historical Society site. Historical Wisconsin map.
Bicycle Road Map of Wisconsin, Section 1, 1897 – Old Wisconsin Maps
Bicycle Road Map of Wisconsin, Section 2, 1897 – Old Map of Wisconsin
Rumsey Map Collection
League of American Wheelmen 1897
The two maps together cover southeast Wisconsin. The Map is in blue. The legend shows type of road. The roads are rated by two different scales: Numbered : 1=Level, 2=Hilly, 3=Very Hilly; Lettered – A=Good, B=Medium, C=Bad. Old bicycle map, historical Wisconsin road map.
Map of the City of Madison, Dane County, State of Wisconsin – Old Map of Madison Wisconsin
Wisconsin Historical Society
Creator: McCabe, P. 1855
Madison was booming in the 1850s, helped by the efforts of developer Leonard Farwell. When famous journalist Horace Greeley visited Madison, Farwell printed 10,000 copies of this map, prominently featuring Greeley’s approving comments and extolling the city’s many advantages. – Summary from Wisconsin Historical Society site. Old Madison Wisconsin map.
Map of Milwaukie – Old Milwaukee Maps
Wisconsin Historical Society
Creator: Martin, Morgan Lewis 1833
In July 1833 Morgan L. Martin, land promoter and speculator, visited the site of Milwaukee and drew this map, the earliest known depiction of the city. Notable features include the trading posts of Jacques Vieau amd Solomon Juneau. In October 1833 Martin and Juneau formed a partnership to develop the site.- Summary from Wisconsin Historical Society site. Old Milwaukee map, historic Milwaukee map.
Milwaukee, Wisconsin – Old Wisconsin Maps
Wisconsin Historical Society
Creator: Robertson, George James 1854
Although published in New York, this bird’s-eye view of Milwaukee is extremely faithful to detail. Drawn in 1853 and published in 1854, it shows more than 1,000 buildings. In 1937 the Milwaukee Sentinel issued a facsimile of it on which they identifed nearly 70 structures. This original version contains no explanatory text or identifications.
– Summary from Wisconsin Historical Society site. Old Milwaukee map, historic Milwaukee map.
View of the City of Milwaukee, Wisconsin – Old Milwaukee Maps
Wisconsin Historical Society
Publisher: J.T. Palmatary 1856
This is a bird’s-eye view drawing of the city of Milwaukee in 1856. It depicts houses, churches, buildings, roads, trees, waterways and the Lake Michigan harbor. Map of historic Milwaukee.
Caspar’s Guide and Map of the City of Milwaukee – Old Milwaukee Maps
Directory of Streets, house numbers and electric car lines. with special diagrams of the 28 car lines
Milwaukee: Caspar 1904
Also, “Interesting facts in and around Milwaukee”, public buildings, blocks, halls, parks, gardens, points of interest etc. Includes “a complete list of all Electric Street Car Lines, their starting points, routes, terminals, time tables, fares, etc. of the entire Trolley system and every tramway operated in and about Milwaukee”.
Metropolitan Milwaukee 1956 – Old Milwaukee Maps
Rumsey Map Collection
Shell Oil Company 1956
Originally published as a roadmap for distribution at Shell service stations. Historical Wisconsin road maps.
Map of the La Crosse and Milwaukee Rail Road and Connections – Old Map of Wisconsin
Library of Congress American Memory
Colton, Joseph Hutchins, NY 1855
Map of the northeastern and north-central United States indicating major drainage, larger cities, state boundaries, and the railroad network. Old railroad maps.
Map of the United States’ Lead Mines on the Upper Mississippi River – Historical Map of Wisconsin
Wisconsin Historical Society
Created by Chandler, R. W. , Cincinnati: 1829
This map was published in 1829 by R.W. Chandler, a pioneer settler of Galena, Ill., to illustrate the Lead Region. It is based on an earlier map by surveyor Lucius Lyon. The map shows the locations of many of the early lead mines (diggings), the names of pioneer settlers, and extols the possibilities of the region.
– Summary from Wisconsin Historical Society site.
Indian Land Cessions in Wisconsin. Wisconsin Map 1 – Old Wisconsin Maps
Indian Land Cessions in Wisconsin. Wisconsin Map 2
18th Annual report of the Bureau of American Ethnology: Schedule of Treaties and Acts of Congress
Smithsonian Institution: Bureau of American Ethnology
GPO 1895
The 18th Annual report of the Bureau of American Ethnology contains, in the latter portion of Volume 2, a “Schedule of Treaties and Acts of Congress Authorizing Allotments of Land in Severalty”. Included in this is a “Schedule of Indian Land Sessions” that provides summary descriptions of each case throughout the U.S. in which a tribe ceded land (whether by sale or not) to the U.S. Federal Government. The Schedule is followed by maps of every U.S. state that contained such land cessions. These maps show the locations of land ceded. A number on each land cession corresponds to an entry in the “Schedule of Indian Land Sessions”, which begins on page 648 of the Annual Report.
How to use this: Begin on one of the Wisconsin maps at the link in this entry (which are also found at pages 845 and 851 of the Annual Report). Note the number of the land cession you wish to read about, and search for that number in the Schedule that begins on page 648 of the Annual Report. This Schedule is organized as a table that spans 2 pages, so look on odd-numbered pages for the land cession number that corresponds with the map location. The preceding page contains a description for that cession, plus a reference to the legal statute. Map of Indian land cessions in Wisconsin.
Indian Lands Ceded by 1848 & Indian Lands Today – Old Wisconsin Maps
Wisconsin Historical Society
Wisconsin Historical Society 2008
Two maps are displayed here. The first shows the location of Indian Lands today (as of approximately 2008), or current Native American reservations in Wisconsin. The second Wisconsin Indian tribes map shows each cession of land by a tribe to the U.S. government between the end of the Black Hawk War and Wisconsin statehood. “This map was reproduced from a page in ‘Wisconsin: Our State, Our Story’, the Wisconsin Historical Society’s elementary school textbook.” -Wisconsin Historical Society site. Map of Indian lands ceded in Wisconsin.
Interactive Map of Wisconsin County Formation History – Old Wisconsin Maps
Map of US.org
Scroll part-way down this webpage for the interactive online map, which shows the changing county borders over time, from 1790 to 1961. You can also see the county boundaries in each census year from 1790 to 1920. Maps of Wisconsin counties.
Collections – Old Wisconsin Maps and Atlases – Old Milwaukee Maps
Milwaukee Map Collection – Old Milwaukee Maps
Milwaukee Public Library
45 maps of Milwaukee, virtually all from 1914-1974. Old maps of Milwaukee, maps of historic Milwaukee.
Maps of Milwaukee – 1836 to the Present – Old Maps of Milwaukee
University of Wisconsin Milwaukee Libraries
Approximately 77 maps of Milwaukee and surrounding area, from the city’s founding in the 1830s until 2015. Old maps of Milwaukee, maps of historic Milwaukee.
Sanborn Maps of Milwaukee, 1894 and 1910 – Old Maps of Milwaukee
University of Milwaukee Libraries
The Digital Sanborn Maps of Milwaukee 1894 & 1910 are two fire insurance atlases featuring detailed color maps of Milwaukee. Produced by the Sanborn Map Company, the 1894 atlas includes four volumes, consisting of 450 map sheets and the 1910 atlas includes eight volumes, consisting of 830 map sheets. Sanborn maps were designed to assist fire insurance agents with insuring property. They contain a great deal of information about buildings and infrastructure. Old maps of Milwaukee, maps of historic Milwaukee, Sanborn maps of Milwaukee.
Wisconsin Historical Maps and Atlases – Old Maps of Wisconsin
Historic MapWorks
Historic MapWorks provides an enormous collection of online maps and atlases. According to the site, the state of Wisconsin collection contains 1,484 atlases, and within the atlases are over 105,000 historical maps, illustrations and histories. Old Wisconsin atlases, old Wisconsin county maps.
Maps and Atlases Collection – Old Maps of Wisconsin
Wisconsin Historical Society
3,700 maps and atlases in a searchable collection.
54 Panoramic maps or Birds-eye views of various Wisconsin cities and towns – Old Maps of Wisconsin Cities
Library of Congress
Various publishers and years of publication
Many of these are highly detailed pictures showing all buildings. The viewer at this site enables high-resolution zooms. Historic Wisconsin city maps.
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
Native American Reservations in Wisconsin – Old Wisconsin Maps
Wisconsin Historical Society
Various publishers and years of publication
Here are 66 historical maps that appeared in search results for “Indian Reservation” at the Wisconsin Historical Society’s online collection of maps and atlases. These range in type from maps that include a Native American reservation as a detail, to a series of maps for a particular reservation. Included are the Bad River Indian Reservation, Lac Court Oreilles Indian Reservation, Keshena Indian Reservation, Red Cliff Indian Reservation, La Pointe Indian Reservation, Lac du Flambeau Indian Reservation, Menominee Indian Reservation, Brotherton Reservation, Stockbridge-Munsee Reservation, and the Stockbridge Reservation. Maps of Native American reservations in Wisconsin.
Old Wisconsin Gazetteers
Wisconsin Gazetteer, containing the names, location and advantages of the counties, cities, towns … – Historical Wisconsin Gazetteers
villages, post offices, and settlements, together with a description of the lakes, water courses, prairies, and public localities, in the state of Wisconsin, alphabetically arranged
Hunt, John Warren
Madison: Brown 1853
This gazetteer contains a surprising depth of detail on many Wisconsin towns at mid-century. Old Wisconsin gazetteers.
Wisconsin State Gazetteer and Business Directory 1891-2, Part 1 – Historical Wisconsin Gazetteers
Part 2
Part 3
Chicago: R. L. Polk 1891
Old Wisconsin gazetteers.