General Information Leaflet Number 26
Cartographic and Architectural Records
Table of Contents
Introduction
Mapping
Exploration and Scientific Surveys
Public Land Surveys and Settlement
Indian Affairs
Hydrography and Navigation
Topography and Natural Resources
Census Mapping
Urban Development
Maps of Foreign Countries
Military Campaigns
Architectural and Engineering Drawings
Aerial Photographs
Reference Services
Maps and Plans
Aerial Photographs
File Information and Copies
Correspondence
Telephone Numbers
Public Transportation
List of Finding Aids Relating to Cartographic and
Architectural Records
Guides and Inventories
Preliminary Inventories
Special Lists
Reference Information Papers
Catalogs
Introduction
The National Archives and Records Administration (NARA) safeguards records
on which the people of a democracy depend for the continuity, accountability,
and credibility of their national institutions. NARA is the official repository
of the permanently valuable records made or accumulated by the U.S. Government
and is responsible for preserving those records and making them available to
the general public, government officials, and scholars. NARA enables people to
inspect for themselves the record of what government has done. It enables officials
and agencies to review their actions and helps citizens hold them accountable.
NARA ensures continuing access to essential evidence that documents the rights
of American citizens, the actions of Federal officials, and the national experience.
Among the records in the Cartographic and Architectural Section (NWCSC) are
over 15 million maps, charts, aerial photographs, architectural drawings, patents,
and ships plans, constituting one of the world's largest accumulations of such
documents. These holdings are arranged in 190 record groups, which reflect the
origins of the records in specific federal departments and agencies. Some of
the more significant holdings, grouped under the general functions or subject
areas associated with their creation, are described below. In appropriate contexts,
record group numbers have been added in parentheses to facilitate reference to
the specific NARA holdings under discussion.
Mapping
Exploration and Scientific Surveys
The Lewis and Clark Expedition was the earliest, and in many ways the most
significant, of the great government-sponsored expeditions. There were many other
expeditions, however, and each made its contribution to filling in the map of
the West or providing information about overseas areas considered vital to the
interests of the United States. The files of the Office of the Chief of Engineers
in Record Group (RG) 77 and the Archives File of the Hydrographic Office (RG
37) contain the most important collections of Federal explorers' maps, many of
which made major contributions to geographic knowledge.
Prominent among Federal explorers who continued the work of Lewis and Clark
were Zebulon M. Pike, Stephen H. Long, Joseph N. Nicollet, B.L.E. Bonneville,
Charles Wilkes, John Rodgers, John C. Fremont, and Gouverneur K. Warren. During
the two decades before the Civil War, Fremont and Warren, members of the Corps
of Topographical Engineers, led expeditions that resulted in mapping much of
the western part of the United States. After the Civil War, increasingly complex
surveying and mapping projects were carried out by field parties under the supervision
of Ferdinand V. Hayden, Clarence King, George M. Wheeler, and John Wesley Powell.
The end of the era of preliminary exploration of the United States was symbolized
by the establishment in 1879 of the U.S. Geological Survey as the government's
central mapping agency.
Public Land Surveys and Settlement
During the period 1785-87, the Seven Ranges of Ohio became the first tract
of public land surveyed under the new rectangular land survey system. This system,
which was institutionalized in 1812 by the establishment of the General Land
Office, has been of immense importance in shaping the cultural landscape of the
public domain lands that lie outside of the Thirteen Original States, Kentucky,
Tennessee, and Texas. The surveys produced a large body of township plats and
field notes, records that have great geographical, historical, and legal value.
Presently there are township plats and field notes for Ohio, Indiana, Illinois,
Iowa, Kansas, Missouri, Alabama, Mississippi, Wisconsin, and parts of several
other States. Other records of the General Land Office and its successor, the
Bureau of Land Management (RG 49), include general state maps; plats of private
land claims, mineral claims, and townsites and maps showing rights-of-way for
transportation and communication lines.
Indian Affairs
Maps showing information about the Indians of the United States can be found
among the records of many agencies, but the largest concentration is the central
map file of the Bureau of Indian Affairs (RG 75). This body of over 16,000 maps,
covering the period 1800-1939, includes items pertaining to Indian treaties,
removal policy, reservations, settlements, and land use. Because of the vast
extent of the Indian lands and the great variety of maps compiled or used by
the Bureau, this file also contains much incidental information about other aspects
of the physical, cultural, and historical geography of the United States.
Hydrography and Navigation
Among the cartographic records are thousands of nautical charts of the U.S.
coastline published by the former Coast and Geodetic Survey (RG 23) (now part
of the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration) and charts of foreign
waters published by the former Hydrographic Office (superseded by the Naval Oceanographic
Office and the Defense Mapping Agency). These published nautical chart series
span the period from the 1840's to the present. The Hydrographic Office records
(RG 37) include original nineteenth-century manuscript survey sheets of the coasts
of Mexico, Central America, and islands in the Caribbean and the Pacific Ocean.
Topography and Natural Resources
A large body of cartographic records pertains to the topography of the United
States and the conservation and development of its natural resources. One of
the most frequently used series dates from the establishment of the U.S. Geological
Survey in 1879 and consists of that agency's topographic quadrangle maps covering
virtually the entire country (RG 57). Other maps from the U.S. Geological Survey
relate to the classification of public lands and to investigations of geological,
mineral, and water resources. Several thousand county and regional soil classification
and soil erosion maps have been produced since 1900 by the Soil Conservation
Service and its predecessors (RG 114). Since its inception in 1881, the Forest
Service has produced numerous maps relating to national forests and timber and
range management (RG 95). The National Park Service (RG 79) created maps of all
of the national parks and monuments, including many in the vicinity of the District
of Columbia. Other map files relating to natural resources are among the records
of the U.S. Bureau of Mines (RG 70), the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (RG 22),
the Bureau of Reclamation (RG 115), the Bureau of Agricultural Economics (RG
83), and the National Resources Planning Board (RG 187).
Census Mapping
Although Federal census schedules date from 1790, the preparation of enumeration
district maps did not occur until 1880. These records, prepared on a decennial
basis, include maps of counties, cities, towns, and unincorporated settlements,
showing boundaries of the districts covered by the census-takers (enumerators).
Population counts for each district and, in some cases, information about farm
dwellings and farm population are contained in accompanying bound volumes of
verbal descriptions of the boundaries of each district. Other map files of the
Bureau of the Census (RG 29) and the Bureau of Agricultural Economics (RG 83)
contain manuscript and published maps relating to population changes, immigration,
and, beginning with the 1840 census of agriculture, such agricultural statistics
as crop and livestock distributions.
Urban Development
The Federal Government's concern with urban areas, beginning with its interest
in the site and development of the nation's capital, is reflected in the holdings
of the Section. Particularly noteworthy are plans of U.S. and foreign cities
dating from the late eighteenth century to the present; enumeration district
maps and boundary descriptions of U.S. cities from 1890 to 1970; and real property
surveys of major U.S. cities undertaken during the Depression. Other special-purpose
maps relate to urban site and situation, urban growth, and the economic and social
interaction between metropolitan areas.
Maps of Foreign Countries
Because the mapping needs in the early years of the federal government were
greatest in the domestic sphere, its production of maps of foreign territory
was limited to areas of government involvement, such as treaties with foreign
governments, foreign wars, and exploration. These maps show topography, settlement,
land use, transportation and communication routes, and other physical and cultural
phenomena. Some 20,000 maps and aerial photographs pertain to the delineation
of the U.S. boundaries with Canada and Mexico, mostly showing areas immediately
adjacent to the borders. The records of the American Commission To Negotiate
Peace (RG 256), the U.S. delegation at the Versailles Conference of 1919, include
1,100 maps covering areas in Europe and other parts of the world that show social,
linguistic, and economic statistics compiled to aid in the postwar geopolitical
restructuring of boundaries. Similar social and economic maps for the World War
II period exist among the records of several diplomatic and wartime agencies.
The largest series of maps covering foreign areas consists of topographic maps
of various scales published by the Army Map Service beginning in 1942. These
maps cover many areas of the world, and the mapping continues today under the
successor, the Defense Mapping Agency (RG 456).
Military Campaigns
Maps and charts have always played an important role in the planning and execution
of military operations, and military maps, nautical charts, and fortification
plans form a significant part of the holdings in the Section. These documents
are found in records of the Offices of the Chief of Engineers (RG 77), the Adjutant
General (RG 94), and the Quartermaster General (RG 92); the Office of Strategic
Services (RG 226); the Army Map Service (RG 77); and the Hydrographic Office
(RG 37). Although they vary in style, composition, and technique, all of the
documents reflect the time and purpose for which they were created. Major battles
and minor skirmishes are depicted in time frames that range from minutes to daily
order of battle to historical summaries of entire campaigns. Subjects are as
disparate as German espionage activities in Mexico during World War I to analysis
of soil and rock composition on the Normandy beaches during World War II.
The earliest documentation consists of a few period maps for Queen Anne's
War and for the French and Indian War and a few hundred maps for the American
Revolution and the War of 1812. The 8,000 Civil War maps constitute the largest
collection of such maps, and the extensive manuscript mapping of the Indian campaigns,
Mexican War, and Spanish-American War form a unique and significant body of records.
Twentieth-century records begin with the Boxer Rebellion, extend to U.S. intervention
in the Caribbean and Central America, and expand to some 25,000 maps and aerial
photographs for World War I. World War II mapping is worldwide for military operations
on land, at sea, and in the air, and covers various aspects of the military campaigns
from intelligence gathering and planning to execution and historical analysis.
Coverage of recent military actions in Korea and Vietnam is limited primarily
to topographic mapping published by the Army Map Service and the Defense Mapping
Agency.
Architectural and Engineering Drawings
Among the records of the Section are several major series of architectural
and engineering drawings created by civilian and military agencies. Some 28,000
plans of public buildings across the United States, such as post offices, courthouses,
and customhouses, were accumulated by the Public Buildings Service and its predecessors
(RG 121) beginning in the mid-nineteenth century. Such federal agencies as the
former Office of Public Buildings and Public Parks of the National Capital (RG
42), the National Capital Planning Commission (RG 328), the Commission of Fine
Arts (RG 66), and the Department of the Interior have accumulated drawings that
document the many government buildings, monuments, and parks in the District
of Columbia and the surrounding areas of Virginia and Maryland. The records of
the Office of Public Buildings and Public Parks of the National Capital include
original proposals for the Washington Monument and Lincoln Memorial. The large
and growing plans files of the National Park Service (RG 79) contain hundreds
of drawings of the most prominent monuments in the District of Columbia as well
as early plans of national parks across the country. The records of the U.S.
Coast Guard's former Bureau of Lighthouses include several thousand drawings
of lighthouses and life-saving stations in the United States, the earliest of
which were designed in the 1830s. Plans of vessels are also among the records
of the Coast Guard (RG 26). Over 100,000 original drawings submitted to the Patent
and Trademark Office (RG 241) with applications for Federal patents between 1790
and 1870 are another type of holding in the Section.
Among military records the most heavily researched architectural drawings
consist of plans of Army forts, hospitals, coastal defense batteries, and other
military reservations. Created primarily by the Army Corps of Engineers and the
Quartermaster General's Office, these fortification plans date from the earliest
years of the country to the World War II period and constitute the largest such
file in existence in the United States. The Corps of Engineers records also include
large-scale engineering drawings of structures such as bridges, dams, and locks
as well as plans of dredge boats used in river navigation projects. Numerous
plans document U.S. Navy and Marine bases and facilities throughout the United
States, the Carribean, and the Pacific from the mid-nineteenth to mid-twentieth
century (RG 71). There are also thousands of U.S. Navy ship plans dating from
the early-nineteenth century to the 1950's (RG 19) and U.S. Navy aircraft and
airship plans from about 1916 to 1962 (RG 72).
Aerial Photography
Aerial photography became an important part of the mapmaking process in the
twentiethth century. Aerial photographs provide a straightforward depiction of
the physical and cultural landscape of an area at a given time. When skillfully
interpreted, these aerial images supply geographers, historians, ecologists,
geologists, urban planners, archaeologists, and other professionals with a pictorial
basis often critical to their studies. Increasingly, members of the legal profession
have used aerial photography in the settlement of cases involving property disputes,
riparian rights, and transportation rights-of-way. Recently, genealogists have
used aerial photography to identify and locate ancestral sites.
The federal government became significantly involved in the systematic acquisition
of aerial photography in the 1930's. Until that time, no comprehensive collection
of aerial imagery of the United States existed. The Department of Agriculture,
given the responsibility for crop determination and soil erosion, created many
of the earliest aerial coverages. The result was an extensive collection of vertical
(mapping) aerial imagery covering approximately 90 percent of the contiguous
United States. This large-scale aerial photography, which was taken between 1935
and 1954, forms a unique collection within the millions of aerial photographic
images held by the Cartographic and Architectural Section. Because one of the
best ways to exploit aerial photography in research is through comparison of
images from various dates, the Section has accessioned an extensive collection
of military-flown imagery of the United States dating from about 1940 to 1960.
This collection provides coverages of Alaska and Hawaii as well as most of the
contiguous United States.
World War II brought a rapid acceleration in the use of aerial photography
of foreign areas for both military operations and mapping purposes. The Section
holds World War II aerial images covering parts of the European, Mediterranean,
and Pacific Theaters of Operation, taken by units of the U.S. and Allied Air
Forces. Included are both vertical mapping photography and oblique reconnaissance
photography. The Section also holds approximately 1.2 million prints of aerial
photographs taken by the Germany military. Coverages are widespread--Europe (from
the British Isles to the Ural Mountains), the Middle East, and North Africa are
included in this collection. Many of the prints are annotated to indicate military
installations and defenses; other prints are marked to show potential bombing
targets. While the scale and quality of the photographs in this collection vary
considerably, the imagery provides unique wartime coverages of many of the contested
areas. A smaller collection (about 37,000 images), taken by the Japanese military
between about 1933 and 1945, consists of aerial photography of parts of China,
Southeast Asia, and the Pacific Islands. The Section also maintains custody of
satellite photographs for 1960-1972 from the CORONA project--the United States
first satellite reconnaissance program.
Reference Services
Maps and Plans
It is important to remember that NARA's holdings relate primarily to official
functions of the federal government and that records are arranged by the federal
offices that created or accumulated them. Maps that predate the federal government
and nineteenth-century maps of areas outside the United States are rare among
the Cartographic and Architectural Section (NWCSC) holdings.
In order to request a search of the maps and charts, researchers need to
provide NWCSC with a subject, geographic area, and time period. In order to request
a search of the architectural or engineering drawings, one must provide the Section
with the name of the structure or equipment as well as its location and time
period of use. Please bear in mind that the Section's architectural and engineering
drawings relate almost exclusively to structures and equipment built by or for
the federal government.
Aerial Photographs
All requests for aerial photography searches must be accompanied by a detailed
map upon which the limits of the site are clearly outlined. The request should
also include a brief geographic description of the site such as state, county,
geographic coordinates, variant spellings of the site name and/or relative location
of the site with nearby, well-known geographic locales. Once NWCSC receives this
information, staff will indicate to the researcher either the indexes that should
be purchased (if the area is large) or the individual photographs needed (if
the area is small).
File Information and Copies
In order to request copies of records in NARA holdings, it is necessary to
know the record group, series, and individual file notation for the original
record. If this complete record filing citation is not known, the researcher
must first request a search of Section holdings as described above under "Maps
and Drawings" or "Aerial Photographs."
Information concerning the records is made available to the public through
the compilation of lists, catalogs, and other finding aids in manuscript or typescript
form maintained in the Section research room. Published finding aids (both free
and fee) that are in print may also be available through
NARA Customer Service Centers or in local libraries. The Section will provide
photocopies of short sections of out-of-print publications. As indicated below
some finding aids have been microfilmed and are available for sale
as part of Microfilm Publication M 248: Publications of the National Archives.
Additional information useful to researchers may be obtained from the National
Archives Fax-on-Demand
System (301-837-0990).
Some maps may be viewed using the Archival Research
Catalog on NARA's web site
All reproductions are made to order for a fee; we do not maintain a stock
of copies.
On-site researchers may examine maps, architectural drawings, and aerial
photographs and finding aids in the Cartographic and Architectural Section Research
Room. For the most productive research, prior to visiting the Section, assemble
the specific information described above, which is necessary to locate individual
items among the thousands on file.
Correspondence
Requests concerning records and reproduction services should be addressed
to:
Cartographic and Architectural Section (NWCSC)
National Archives and Records Administration
8601 Adelphi Road
College Park, MD 20740-6001
Telephone Numbers
General NARA Reference (College Park: 301-837-3200
National Archives Fax-on-Demand: 301-837-0990
Cartographic and Architectural Reference:
Reference Inquiries: 301-837-3200
Fax Number: 301-837-3622
E-Mail Address:
carto@nara.gov
Research Hours:
Monday and Wednesday: 8:45 a.m. - 5:00 p.m.
Tuesday, Thursday, and Friday: 8:45 a.m. - 9:00 p.m.
Saturday: 8:45 a.m. - 4:45 p.m.
Closed Sunday
Public Transportation
Parking is available to researchers who travel by private car to the National
Archives at College Park. Public transportation to the facility involves a combination
of subway and bus. A staff shuttle bus, accessible to researchers on a space
available basis, operates between the College Park facility and the National
Archives in downtown Washington, DC. Current information on transportation options
is provided on the NARA
web site, or may be obtained from the research consultants' desk at College
Park (301-837-3200).
List of Finding Aids Relating
to Cartographic and Architectural Records
Note: Publlications marked as out of print (OOP) are not available from the
Customer Service Center, however they may be available for reference in NARA
research facilities.
Guides and Inventories
Guide to Federal Records
in the National Archives of the United States. 3 vols. (1995)
A Guide to Civil War Maps in the National Archives (1964, revised
1986) (OOP).
Guide to Cartographic Records in the National Archives (1971).
Inventory (INV 4) of the Records of the Hydrographic Office, (1971).
Preliminary Inventories
PI 45 Cartographic Records of the Federal Housing Administration (1952).
PI 73 Cartographic Records of the United States Marine Corps (1954).
PI 81 Cartographic Records of the Office of the Secretary of the Interior
(1955).
PI 85 Cartographic Records of the Chief of Naval Operations (1955).
PI 90 Records of the United States Antarctic Service (1955).
PI 91 Cartographic Records of the Panama Canal (1956).
PI 103 Cartographic Records of the Bureau of the Census (1958).
PI 146 Records of the Provisional Government of Cuba (1962).
PI 161 Records of the Bureau of the Census (1964).
PI 165 Cartographic Records of the American Expeditionary Forces,
1917-21 (1966) (OOP). Available on roll 19 of M248.
PI 167 Cartographic Records of the Forest Service (1967).
PI 168 Records of the Post Office Department (1967).
PI 170 Records Relating to International Boundaries (1968).
PI 195 Cartographic Records of the Soil Conservation Service (1981).
Special Lists
SL 13 Cartographic Records of the Bureau of Indian Affairs (1954;
revised 1977).
SL 19 Cartographic Records of the General Land Office (1964).
SL 23 Cartographic Records Relating to the Territory of Wisconsin,
1836-1848 (1970) (OOP). Available on roll 38 of M248.
SL 25 Aerial Photographs in the National Archives (1971).
SL 26 Pre-Federal Maps in the National Archives: An Annotated List (1971).
SL 27 Cartographic Records Relating to the Territory of Iowa, 1838-1846
(1971) (OOP). Available on roll 38 of M248.
SL 28 Cartographic Records of the Bureau of Agricultural Economics
(1971) (OOP). Available on roll 38 of M248.
SL 29 List
of Selected Maps of States and Territories (1996).
SL 41 Cartographic Records of the National Resources Planning Board
(1977) (OOP). Available on roll 39 of M248.
SL 43 United States Hydrographic Office Manuscript Charts in the National
Archives, 1838-1908 (1978).
SL 57 Lighthouse Plans in the National Archives (1990) (00P).
Reference Information Papers
RIP 75 Agricultural Maps in the National Archives of the United States,
ca. 1860-1930 (1976).
RIP 79 World War II Records in the Cartographic and Architectural Section
of the National Archives (1992).
Catalogs
From time to time the National Archives and Records Administration displays
maps and charts in formal exhibits. Several of these exhibits have been accompanied
by published catalogs describing the records and relating them to their social
and institutional backgrounds. Catalogs for the following exhibits were produced,
however all are out of print:
Federal Exploration of the American West Before 1880 (1963)
Geographical Exploration and Topographic Mapping by the United States
Government: A Catalog (1952, reprinted 1966)
United States Scientific Geographical Exploration of the Pacific Basin
(1971)
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