If you have a few hours or more to burn, go to https://historicalcharts.noaa.gov
NOAA's nautical charts section digitized charts and maps from current day back to well before the civil war. This project has apparently been around for many years, but I just stumbled across it on the updated nauticalcharts.noaa.gov web site while looking for a current chart of the Chesapeake Bay. Haven't seen it mentioned here. The charts are massive in size, running 9 - 24 MB. But there is a great download cart that zips the files prior to downloading. The site has a good viewer as well. I had a few charts printed out and framed as wall art.
If you are in to cartography, there is a set of 5 maps of the Chesapeake bay (1851 - 1855) that are progressive status report maps of the first survey of the Bay, showing where the survey monument locations were. Also, for the Hampton Roads peninsula (Hampton, Newport News, Yorktown) there is a military map from 1860 showing fortifications and who, by name, lived in the area at that time. I have spent several hours looking at that chart since I have lived in that area for 35 years. It is rich in history. NOAA has a collection of civil war era coastal survey maps but the link is currently broken...bummer. It's 36 degrees this morning and the boat is winterized...
Dan
NOAA's nautical charts section digitized charts and maps from current day back to well before the civil war. This project has apparently been around for many years, but I just stumbled across it on the updated nauticalcharts.noaa.gov web site while looking for a current chart of the Chesapeake Bay. Haven't seen it mentioned here. The charts are massive in size, running 9 - 24 MB. But there is a great download cart that zips the files prior to downloading. The site has a good viewer as well. I had a few charts printed out and framed as wall art.
If you are in to cartography, there is a set of 5 maps of the Chesapeake bay (1851 - 1855) that are progressive status report maps of the first survey of the Bay, showing where the survey monument locations were. Also, for the Hampton Roads peninsula (Hampton, Newport News, Yorktown) there is a military map from 1860 showing fortifications and who, by name, lived in the area at that time. I have spent several hours looking at that chart since I have lived in that area for 35 years. It is rich in history. NOAA has a collection of civil war era coastal survey maps but the link is currently broken...bummer. It's 36 degrees this morning and the boat is winterized...
Dan
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