Historical Maps
The Mississippi Department of Archives and History has cataloged over 2,500 maps in its "published information" collection. They include hand-drawn sketches of towns, localities, plantations, and battlefields, as well as published maps from the sixteenth through twenty-first centuries.
MDAH staff digitized over 600 paper maps for this online exhibit. The earliest is a triptych printed by the famous Dutch cartographer Abraham Ortelius in 1588, including La Florida, drawn by Geronimo Chaves. In his book The Southeast in Early Maps, William P. Cumming called La Florida "one of the half-dozen most important mother maps of southeastern North America." Several maps in the exhibit trace the history of Mississippi from early exploration through colonial expansion, the territorial period, and statehood. Others are hand-drawn plans and plats of towns, such as P. A. Van Dorn's original plan for the city of Jackson in 1822.
Many maps can also be found in other MDAH collections, such as government records and personal papers. One such example is included in this exhibit, the colorful map of the town of Washington, Mississippi, hand drawn by B. L. C. Wailes in the town's 1838 Minute Book. Maps that other state government agencies (especially the Mississippi Department of Transportation) have scanned to document work projects and then transferred to MDAH are not included here but can be accessed with other electronic government records.
Read MoreThe Mississippi Department of Archives and History has cataloged over 2,500 maps in its "published information" collection. They include hand-drawn sketches of towns, localities, plantations, and battlefields, as well as published maps from the sixteenth through twenty-first centuries.
MDAH staff digitized over 600 paper maps for this online exhibit. The earliest is a triptych printed by the famous Dutch cartographer Abraham Ortelius in 1588, including La Florida, drawn by Geronimo Chaves. In his book The Southeast in Early Maps, William P. Cumming called La Florida "one of the half-dozen most important mother maps of southeastern North America." Several maps in the exhibit trace the history of Mississippi from early exploration through colonial expansion, the territorial period, and statehood. Others are hand-drawn plans and plats of towns, such as P. A. Van Dorn's original plan for the city of Jackson in 1822.
Many maps can also be found in other MDAH collections, such as government records and personal papers. One such example is included in this exhibit, the colorful map of the town of Washington, Mississippi, hand drawn by B. L. C. Wailes in the town's 1838 Minute Book. Maps that other state government agencies (especially the Mississippi Department of Transportation) have scanned to document work projects and then transferred to MDAH are not included here but can be accessed with other electronic government records.
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Plot of Vicksburg and Natchez Districts for leasing abandoned plantations
Date: 1864
Description: Plot of Vicksburg and Natchez Districts for leasing abandoned plantations.
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State of Mississippi: base map with highways and contours
Date: 1972
Creator: Geological Survey (U.S.)
Description: State of Mississippi : base map with highways and contours / compiled, edited, and published by the Geological Survey.
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Map of the city of Jackson : with surveyor's references & distances
Date: 1908
Creator: Smith, James
Description: Map of the city of Jackson : with surveyor's references & distances / published by James Smith, ca. 1908; date of situation: April 1st, 1845; "Taken from the original map in the Secretary of State's o...
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Belhaven Heights : Jackson, Miss.
Description: Belhaven Heights : Jackson, Miss.
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Porterville
Date: 1989
Creator: Geological Survey (U.S.)
Description: Porterville / prepared by the U.S. Geological Survey for publication by the Defense Mapping Agency Hydrographic/Topographic Center.
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Hurley
Date: 1985
Creator: Geological Survey (U.S.)
Description: Hurley / prepared by the U.S. Geological Survey for publication by the Defense Mapping Agency Hydrographic/Topographic Center.
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West Point
Date: 1963
Creator: United States Army Map Service
Description: West Point / prepared by the Army Map Service (AJEE), Corps of Engineers, U.S. Army.
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Natchez
Date: 1959
Creator: United States Army Map Service
Description: Natchez / prepared by the Army Map Service (AJAM), Corps of Engineers, U.S. Army.
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Hattiesburg
Date: 1965
Creator: United States Army Map Service
Description: Hattiesburg / prepared by the Army Map Service (AJEE), Corps of Engineers, U.S. Army.
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Natchez
Date: 1955
Creator: United States Army Map Service
Description: Natchez / prepared by the Army Map Service (AJAM), Corps of Engineers, U.S. Army.
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Tupelo
Date: 1958
Creator: United States Army Map Service
Description: Tupelo / prepared by the Army Map Service (TVSX), Corps of Engineers, U.S. Army.
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Meridian
Date: 1957
Creator: United States Army Map Service
Description: Meridian / prepared by the Army Map Service (AJEE), Corps of Engineers, U.S. Army.
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Greenwood
Date: 1966
Creator: United States Army Map Service
Description: Greenwood / prepared by the Army Map Service (AMTV), Corps of Engineers, U.S. Army.
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Greenwood
Date: 1954
Creator: United States Army Map Service
Description: Greenwood / prepared by the Army Map Service, Corps of Engineers, U.S. Army, side 1.
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Greenwood
Date: 1954
Creator: United States Army Map Service
Description: Greenwood / prepared by the Army Map Service, Corps of Engineers, U.S. Army, side 2.
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Fort Mims
Description: Fort Mims, side 1.
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Fort Mims
Description: Fort Mims, side 2.
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Panorama of the Mississippi Valley : and its fortifications
Date: 1863
Creator: Magnus, Charles
Description: Panorama of the Mississippi Valley: and its fortifications / eng. by F.W. Boell.
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Meridian
Date: 1965
Creator: United States Army Map Service
Description: Meridian / prepared by the Army Map Service (AJEE), Corps of Engineers, U.S. Army.
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Jackson
Date: 1962
Creator: United States Army Map Service
Description: Jackson / prepared by the Army Map Service (AMTV), Corps of Engineers, U.S. Army.
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Mitchell's series of outline maps for the use of academies & schools. No. 1...
Date: 1841
Creator: Mitchell, S. Augustus
Description: Mitchell's series of outline maps for the use of academies & schools. No. 13.
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A plan of the town of Clinton and adjacent lands
Date: 1856
Creator: Nabors & Comfort
Description: A plan of the town of Clinton and adjacent lands / drawn from G. Fitz's original plot by Nabors & Comfort, side 1.
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A plan of the town of Clinton and adjacent lands
Date: 1856
Creator: Nabors & Comfort
Description: A plan of the town of Clinton and adjacent lands / drawn from G. Fitz's original plot by Nabors & Comfort, side 2.
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Map of Cloverland Subdivision, Jackson, Hinds Co. Miss.
Date: 1928
Creator: Casey, Jules A.
Description: Plat map of subdivision showing townships, ranges, sections, and acreage of properties belonging to Walter Bracey, Peter Bracey, Frederick L. Cornwell, C.K. Dunn, Jules Lewis, Emma Catchings.
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Township no. 2 in range no. 5 and 6, west : land district east of Pearl Riv...
Date: 1807
Creator: Freeman, Thomas
Description: Township no. 2 in range no. 5 and 6, west : land district east of Pearl River, M.T. / Tho Freeman.
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Johnson's Arkansas, Mississippi and Louisiana
Date: 1864
Description: Johnson's Arkansas, Mississippi and Louisiana / by Johnson and Ward. From Johnson's Family World Atlas, version 8.
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Carte de la Louisiane et du cours du Mississipi
Date: 1718
Creator: L'Isle, Guillaume de
Description: Carte de la Louisiane et du cours du Mississipi /dressee sur un grand nombre de memoires entrautres [i.e. entr'autres] sur ceux de Mr. le Maire, par Guillaume de l'Isle.
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Carte du Mexique et de la Floride: des terres angloises et des Isles Antill...
Date: 1703
Creator: L'Isle, Guillaume de
Description: Carte du Mexique et de la Floride : des terres angloises et des Isles Antilles, du cours et des environs de la riviere de Mississipi [sic] / dressee sur un grand nombre de memoires principalemt. sur c...
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A plan of Clinton and adjacent lands
Date: 1913
Creator: Fitz, Gideon
Description: A plan of Clinton and adjacent lands /drawn from G. Fitz's original plot by Hilley Moseley Jan. 17, 1856; transcribed by J.D. Coleman 1883; copied by Elsie Timberlake July 24, 1913.
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Northern Mississippi and Alabama
Date: 1864
Creator: United States Coast Survey
Description: Northern Mississippi and Alabama / U.S. Coast Survey.