Research Guides: History of Cleveland &amp; Northeast Ohio: Cleveland Cartography

Michael Schwartz Library

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.

Resources

Local Maps and Their Histories

Cleveland Historic Maps, Finally, someone has stitched together several historic plat maps of greater Cleveland -- for 1852, 1874, 1881, 1898, 1912 and 1920/22 -- and aligned them to allow you to switch between years for any location you select! We've needed this for years. Thanks Chris at ESRI Products.
RailsandTrails.com, Steve Titchenal's wonderful map site, containing a trove of digitized maps, charts, plans, topos, pictures and other historic images.
Cleveland Public Library's Map Collection is mounting many maps and atlases of greater Cleveland to their on-line local history site
Cleveland Public Library's Image Collections
Historical Maps of Cleveland -- from the Dept. of Geography, University of Alabama.
Federal Home Owners' Loan Corporation (HOLC) maps -- Redlining maps for Cuyahoga County and Ohio.
Ohio Web Library: Sanborn Insurance Maps. Login with an Ohio library card required.
Ohio Land Subdivisions (Volume III of Final Report, 1925) - Only the chapter on the Western Reserve has been digitized and offered here. The huge map that accompanies this book has not be digitized.
Knepper, George. The Official Ohio Lands Book (PDF) from the State Auditor's Office.
PA-OH Boundary Re-survey Project - A 1990s re-tracement survey of the Ellicott Line, the base line for the original surveys of the Western Reserve in 1796.
Laying out Cleveland - What images (and ideas) may have influenced Moses Cleaveland's plan?
Bluestone Heights Project: Conversation on NEO Places. NeoMap.
Illustrated articles about the mapping history of Cleveland:
- "Using Maps to Study Local History in Cleveland, Ohio." - A webbed tutorial.
- First maps of the Western Reserve and Cleveland
- The Sumner-Savory 1826 Map of the Western Reserve....
- Early atlases of Cleveland and Cuyahoga County.
- Wall Maps.
- City Directory Maps of Cleveland, 1848-1950 - A working paper on this genre of street maps.
- Tax Atlases of Cuyahoga County and how they can be used to study historic real estate values.

Institutional Map Collections and Their Holdings

Cleveland Public Library map collection - the best cartographic reference library in northern Ohio.
Western Reserve Historical Society Library - the region's premier historic map collection (Their collection of historic maps of Cleveland and the Western Reserve are now available in their library on color microfilm!)
Kent State University Map Library - an excellent collection of contemporary maps and reference materials
On-line Map Room of the Summit Memory Project at the Akron-Summit County Public Library's Special Collections.
Hiram College Archives' Maurice & Ethlynn Fox Map Collection
Cleveland State University Library - has a collection of U.S.G.S. topographic maps of the region, as well as some historic maps and atlases of Cleveland.
Cuyahoga County Archives - holds large collections of Auditor's tax maps and Recorder's subdivision plats for Cuyahoga County.
City of Cleveland, Department of Public Health, Division of Environment - which holds a collection of paper maps of city sewers and drainage.
Ohio Historical Society Library - the other big collection of historical maps of Ohio, including some of Cleveland and northern Ohio.
City of Cleveland GIS
Cuyahoga County Planning Department GIS

Government Records

Bureau of Land Management. "Official Federal Land Records Site." -- Of the three databases offered here, "Land Patents," "Survey Plats and Field Notes," and "Land Status Records," apparently only the first has any Ohio information

Articles

Baker, Samuel J. "Original Surveys of Cleveland." 1884.
Earnest, G. Brooks. "Cleveland Regional Geodetic Survey Provides Control for 450-Square Mile Area," Civil Engineering, December, 1948.
Journal of the Cuyahoga County Archives -- two articles on their map holdings:
- "Cartographic Records in the Cuyahoga County Archives"
- "The Records of the Cuyahoga County Auditor"

Books

Barrow, William C. "The Euclid Heights Allotment: A Palimpsest of the Nineteenth Century Search for Real Estate Value in Cleveland's East End." 1997.
Wells, Della Wagner. "Calhoun, King & Spalding: The Railroad Years." 1985.

Cartographers & Artists

Earl Gurney Mead - 20th century map maker. See his list of "Ten Maps"
Arthur B. Suchy (1901-1995) - Illustrator who produced several colorful maps of various areas in the U.S., including Cleveland.
Gary M. Stretar (Spencer, Ohio) - evocative of historic maps of Cleveland and the Reserve
Richard Treaster (Lakewood, Ohio) - Cleveland Institute of Art instructor and corporate watercolorist
Dr. James A. Bier - landform maps of Cuyahoga County
The Cleveland Map Company Home Page - publishers of the 1996 Visitor's Map and Guide to Cleveland.
Rustbelt Cartography - Has a bunch of free Cleveland area digital maps under "samples."