Civil War Era road maps?

[OldReliable1862]

I'm trying to find 19th-century era maps depicting roads and other features. This is mostly for my wargaming, but I thought other people could find this useful as well. Google Maps, Google Earth, and Topographical Survey are fine for figuring the general topography, but finding lost roads and farmhouses is practically impossible. I'm aware doing this for any large area is a herculean task, but I would be much obliged to get some help on this.

 

[Lubliner]

Try aerial images, for maps on google.
Lubliner.

 

[JOHN42768]

If for a smaller area might try finding an old topographic map

 

[Taylin]

There was an Atlas done of US states county by county in 1876, it's what I've used when researching most of the time. I don't think it shows smaller roadways like old wagon trails or anything, but most notable town to town roadways are on there. I usually just type into google the State and County followed by "1876 Atlas" or "1876 map"

Edit: I've been corrected upon looking deeper into the above mentioned, what I've been using is an Atlas done by this fellow here: He has done other Atlases for other states by the looks of it. Not sure as to how many but maybe looking into his publications will help you.

 

[Taylin]

https://www.davidrumsey.com/ Poked around a bit on their search bar and it seems to be a valuable source for maps, example here (Orange County Indiana)

 

[Andy Cardinal]

There was an Atlas done of US states county by county in 1876, it's what I've used when researching most of the time. I don't think it shows smaller roadways like old wagon trails or anything, but most notable town to town roadways are on there. I usually just type into google the State and County followed by "1876 Atlas" or "1876 map"

Depending on which areas you're looking for, many local historical societies have pretty neat maps that show properties, etc.

 

[OldReliable1862]

There was an Atlas done of US states county by county in 1876, it's what I've used when researching most of the time. I don't think it shows smaller roadways like old wagon trails or anything, but most notable town to town roadways are on there. I usually just type into google the State and County followed by "1876 Atlas" or "1876 map"

I tried searching for a few counties in my area (SW Georgia), but failed to turn up anything.

 

[Taylin]

I tried searching for a few counties in my area (SW Georgia), but failed to turn up anything.

Try this website for Georgia: https://www.mapofus.org/georgia/ Scroll town a tad and you'll see all the county's in blue bold text in alphabetical order. Click on the desired county and then scroll down to the bottom of that page and you'll see "Historical Maps of (County)" Click on that, then scroll to a desired date.

 

[Don Dixon]

The Library of Congress discusses your best source of post-Civil War detailed maps:

"While city atlases served a specialized clientele, their rural counterparts, known as county landownership atlases, were a commercial enterprise promoted by subscription campaigns and directed to a wider audience. Based on the pre-Civil War production of wall-sized, single-sheet county landownership maps, atlases showing landownership developed into a popular atlas format starting in the 1860s in the northeastern United States, and expanding into the Midwestern states by the 1870s and 1880s. These commercially published atlases contain cadastral or landownership maps for the individual townships within a county. In addition, they often include county and township histories, personal and family biographies and portraits, and views of important buildings, residences, farms, or prized livestock." ("Atlases." Geography and Maps: An Illustrated Guide. Washington, D.C.: Library of Congress.)

You will have difficulty finding any sort of detailed Civil War period road maps covering the zones of combat, particularly of the South, which is why the armies floundered around when moving to contact. A major reason why Stonewall Jackson was so successful as a commander was that he had directed his engineers to map the Shenandoah Valley. Consequently, he had accurate maps, while his Federal opponents did not. One of Bobby Lee's significant flaws as a commander was that although he controlled the ground in northern Virginia for much of the war he never caused to it be mapped; a fatal flaw for someone who was commissioned as, and supposedly was, an engineer.

The U.S. coast line had been surveyed for years before the Civil War, but the land mass had not. Having learned from their Civil War experiences, and determined never to fight without maps again, the U.S. Army pushed for the creation of the Coast and Geodetic Survey in 1871 to develop detailed topographic maps of the United States.

Regards,
Don Dixon

 

[Lubliner]

I have found two sites by following a Tennessee artifact hunter on youtube that gave a course on rediscovery of old roads, etc. by using them, and both allow free view but have heavy watermarks composed on their aerial shoots. There is a small fee to receive these without the disruption. He is a prominent Relic hunter and I keep wanting to say Birddogg, because he is. Remaining obligated to permission rights, I cannot post the URL address here without first asking. Thanks,
Lubliner.

 

[EJ Zander]

I'm trying to find 19th-century era maps depicting roads and other features. This is mostly for my wargaming, but I thought other people could find this useful as well. Google Maps, Google Earth, and Topographical Survey are fine for figuring the general topography, but finding lost roads and farmhouses is practically impossible. I'm aware doing this for any large area is a herculean task, but I would be much obliged to get some help on this.

https://www.historicaerials.com/
This site has both old photos and aerials. You can search by town. If you are going ACW the old topos will get u close to what was there at the time. The tops go back to early 1900s. I use it often.