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History of Cleveland & Northeast Ohio: Using Maps

Resources about the history of greater Cleveland and northeast Ohio.

Research Basics

TIP: Don't miss our handy Guide to College Writing, for helpful tips on research basics, including starting research projects and using Library resources, citations, avoiding plagiarism and more.

Maps of Cleveland Historic Districts

Downloadable maps of Cleveland city historic districts

Using Maps

Maps are subjective cultural documents of great value in the study of local history. There are many types of maps in the holdings of institutions in northeastern Ohio. Selecting the right one for a particular research project will depend upon what type of information is being sought, but for most purposes the highly-detailed commercial atlas maps issued by the G.M. Hopkins Company, the Sanborn Map Company, or several minor firms in the nineteenth century will prove most useful for researching Cleveland history.

Cleveland Cartography
Information about historical and contemporary maps and map-related happenings in and about Cleveland and the Western Reserve region of northeastern Ohio.
Cleveland Historical Maps: ERSI's "PeopleMaps"
Maps from 8 historic periods a couple of older aerial photos and a contemporary aerial photo are here dynamically interconnected. The four squares in the red menu bar gives access to those different layers.
Cleveland Public Library Map Collection
Largest map collection in NE Ohio
Early Atlases of Cleveland
The single most useful type of map for local history research is the commercial atlas, such as those publised by the Sanborn Map Co.and the G.M. Hopkins Co. Here is a listing of which ones were published and which ones are available on-line.
Cleveland Cartography: NE Ohio Map Collections
Other major map collections, including those mentioned above.
Rails and Trails
Here is a site full of digital maps of Northeast Ohio.

First Published Map of Cleveland (1835) by Ahaz Merchant

Published in 1835 by Nathan Currier, later of Currier & Ives fame, in the first year of his business. Ahaz Merchant was the Cleveland City Surveyor.