About Our Map Collection

Related Links
Map Indexes and Descriptions of Types
Map Subject Authority List | Guide to Map Codes
Notes on Map Preservation, Access, and Copies

The Texas State Archives Map Collection contains original, photoreproduced, and compiled maps covering the period from the early seventeenth through the late twentieth centuries.

The holdings include:

• General maps of the state
• General maps of the United States, Mexico, and parts thereof which include all or a portion of Texas
• Atlases, mainly world, for 18th - 20th century
• Birdseye views of Texas cities
• Coastal charts and other nautical maps
• County road maps produced by the Texas Highway Department
• County survey maps (usually produced by the General Land Office)
• Geological maps (state and county)
• Highway and road maps
• Military survey and reconnaisance maps
• Oil and gas maps
• Plans of forts, missions, presidios, battlegrounds
• Railroad maps
• Soil survey maps (county and region)
• Street maps
• Town plats
• United States Geological Survey maps showing the topography of various Texas counties prior to 1900

A map information sheet is prepared for each map that includes:

• map number
• map date
• map title
• publisher and/or cartographer (if known)
• size and scale
• format (type of copy/color or black and white)
• type of map (general, topographic, etc.)
• donor (if known)
• language
• related maps

This basic information is followed by a full narrative description of the map content. Maps are numbered sequentially as they are received in the State Archives. Map numbers are assigned for physical control only and do not reflect a classification scheme.

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