Several types of maps are useful for genealogists. Some give the historical background of the area; others show migration routes such as roads, rivers, and railroads. Topographical maps show physical and man-made features, such as creeks, hills, trails, and roads used as persons came to Vermont. Sometimes maps also include cemeteries and churches. Plat and land ownership maps, as well as other types of maps, are described in the “Maps” section of the United States Research Outline (30972). In the Family History Library Catalog, atlases are listed in the Place Search under “Maps.”
The largest collections of maps in Vermont are available at the Vermont Historical Society and the University of Vermont. The Vermont Historical Society collection contains the earliest maps of Vermont.
Many of the maps at the Family History Library are in published atlases. For example, maps showing boundary changes in Vermont are found in:
New Hampshire, Vermont, Atlas of Historical County Boundaries. New York, New York: Simon & Schuster, 1993. (FHL book 974 E3n.) In addition to giving a chronology of the development of each county, this atlas contains maps showing the county boundaries and the towns in each county.
Graffagnino, J. Kevin. The Shaping of Vermont. Rutland, Vermont: Vermont Heritage Press, 1983. (FHL book Q 974.3 E3g.) This book includes maps for 1749 to 1877.
Frederick W. Beers published atlases for all counties in Vermont except Essex between 1869 and 1878. These include the names of landowners. The Family History Library has the atlases for Addison, Bennington, Chittenden, Franklin, Grand Isle, Lamoille, Orleans, Rutland, Washington, Windham, and Windsor counties. For these and other maps of Vermont, see the Family History Library Catalog Place Search under:
VERMONT, [COUNTY]- MAPS
VERMONT, [COUNTY], [TOWN]- MAPS