Old Maps

[bdloftin77]

I wanted to share some resources I found regarding peak names and old maps of Colorado.

A quick way to find old USGS quads is to go to the USGS's TopoView site (click in the main window to go straight to the map). You can do a text search by location or map name, or you can click on the map to find a series of old topo maps from oldest to newest. You can also filter by map scale.

Another cool site I found is OldMapsOnline. You can zoom into an area that you're interested in. A sliding timeline at the bottom of the screen shows how political boundaries have changed, and also yields maps from that general time period. With advanced search, you can search by time range, or with a free account you can search by other attributes, such as map scale.

For Colorado Springs folks, the TierraPlan website has a timeline at the bottom where you can find old maps of the city and the general area. A sliding bar also lets you compare the old maps with what's currently there.

One of my favorite sites to visit lately is the David Rumsey Historical Map Collection. There are thousands of maps here of the states, the countries, and of the world.

Two of the best Colorado-related maps are those of George Wheeler (the group of maps on the right is Colorado) and Ferdinand Hayden (two of the most prominent surveyors of the west and of Colorado, working in Colorado in the 1870s). Unfortunately for Wheeler, most of Hayden's names were later officially recognized while Wheeler's faded into obscurity. Many of Wheeler's names were popular enough to be included on quite a few maps, as well as in books and mountain name lists. There's one individual Wheeler sheet in the Rumsey collection that has an earlier date and different names than the one in the composite, which I'll include here. It includes Wheeler's original names for Mt Princeton (Chalk Pk) and Mt Shavano (Usher Pk). To see all the individual Colorado Wheeler maps and their info (years surveyed and people involved), see here.

In the David Rumsey collection, there are options to sort, filter, and refine your search. If you create a free account, you can create a "Media Group" (favorite maps) by going to the Explore tab and the Media Group subtab.

A really good book on the history of the 14er names, ranges, elevations, and ascents is Fourteen Thousand Feet by John Lathrop Jerome Hart (1925). You can read and download it for free in google books.

A further resource on old peak names, alternate names, and elevations is The Mountain Peaks of Colorado by Roger Wolcott Toll (1923). This is also available for free reading and downloading in google books.

Sometime later I'll probably post some interesting maps I've found of Colorado, including early ones showing notable peaks (mainly 14ers).

[Mtnman200]

Thanks! I never want to rely solely on electronic devices so always take a paper USGS map along, but my map collection is incomplete.

[justiner]

Although not as in-depth I'm sure, Caltopo does have a Historic Map layer that sometimes shows interesting things. You can have it export what you're looking at to a PDF to print. Powerful stuff.

[ntaeiou]

Thank you! Appreciate this.

[bdloftin77]

Although not as in-depth I'm sure, Caltopo does have a Historic Map layer that sometimes shows interesting things. You can have it export what you're looking at to a PDF to print. Powerful stuff.

Nice, I didn’t know it had that layer. Do you have to have an account to export?

For LoJ users, there’s a similar 1945+ and an 1885+ historical layer you can turn on while looking at peaks. Both incorporate old USGS topos. Makes sense that caltopo would have it too.

Thank you! Appreciate this.

No problem! I was hoping there were a few other map nerds out there.