Cartography of the United States

1681 map of North America

Antebellum map of the United States, published by Sidney E. Morse in An atlas of the United States (1823), showing the recent acquisition of Missouri and Louisiana, and the remnant of the Northwest Territory after the establishment of Ohio, Indiana and Illinois

Mitchell's 1867 map of the US

Maps of the New World had been produced since the 16th century. The history of cartography of the United States begins in the 18th century, after the declared independence of the Thirteen original colonies on July 4, 1776, during the American Revolutionary War (1775-1783). Later, Samuel Augustus Mitchell published a map of the US in 1867. The National Program for Topographic Mapping was initiated in 1884 by the United States Geological Survey.

Changes to territories

As the United States changed territorial lines, maps were updated and redrawn, e.g. when the new state Hawaii was added on August 21, 1959.

Map of the United States, showing Hawaii (lower left), which became a U.S. state in August 1959

Some maps show the state lines (boundaries) of the individual states, whereas other maps simply show the national boundaries between the United States and other nations.

See also

• Geography of the United States
• United States National Grid

External links

• 125 Years of Topographic Mapping