Maps
Maps and atlases in the Missouri Valley Room
The map collection, with over 2000 maps, plat books, and atlases, covers the Kansas City region, Missouri, Kansas, the Midwest, trails, railroads, and early maps that identify Native American lands. They also include eastern states and rare maps of the early western hemisphere.
Many maps are indexed in the Digital Gallery and some of these records include an image. Additional atlases and maps can be found by searching the online catalog.
Key Kansas City atlases and plat books include, but are not limited to, The Atlas of the Environs of Kansas City, in Jackson County, Missouri for 1886, 1887 and 1891 [MVSC F 099.7 H79 on microfilm] and Plat Book of Jackson County Missouri for 1904 and 1911. [MVSC F 099.7 N87 1904; MVSC F 099.7 B53 1911 both also on microfilm].
Map pages (225), mounted on heavy boards, of the 1925 Atlas of Kansas City, Missouri, and Environs by Tuttle-Ayers-Woodward are stored in a wooden chest in the Missouri Valley Room.
A useful tool, Family Maps of Jackson County, Missouri [MVSC 929.3 MS41BO], includes names of original land patent holders which can be used in conjunction with a search of the Federal Land Patent web page for original documents transferring the land.
Sanborn Fire Insurance Maps
The Sanborn Fire Insurance Maps, as their name implies, were created for insurance companies to monitor what buildings they insured and where they were located. Today they are one of the most important research sources for the study of the development of urban America beginning in the late 1800s. More ...
Other helpful area maps online
Useful websites
- MVSC Sanborn Fire Insurance Maps
- Sanborn Fire Insurance Maps of Missouri, University of Missouri
- ProQuest Sanborn Maps, 1867-1970
