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A non-exhaustive list of free-access websites to help you find old maps of France and the World for your genealogy.
©️Andrew Neel - Unsplash
Old maps are important tools for your genealogy. Once you have found elements about your ancestors, they often help you find more specific information or even solve genealogical puzzles.
Using old maps will allow you, among other things, to verify name changes of certain places, to check the old boundaries of a village or department, to understand the environment of your ancestors (town, church, neighbors…), and finally, to perhaps explain the movements of your ancestors.
You can consult maps of seas on parchment, the Europe in maps, as well as the France in maps (with chronological, geographical access, and the Cassini General Map of France), but also the Africa in maps, the Japan in maps, the Americas in maps and digitized versions of ancient globes in 2D and 3D.
This is IGN's proposal with its tool "Go back in time."Compare maps and old and current aerial photos to understand the territorial changes your ancestors could have experienced.
Navigate through Cassini's map. Choose a department, search for a place and display the main towns, commune boundaries, cantons, districts, or departments. Thanks to the Index, discover the names of disappeared communes or their intermediate denominations.
Geoportail gives you access to many map funds: Cassini map, state major map, aerial photographs from 1950 to 1965, maps from 1950, and many more… Choose the map fund that interests you, search for a place or address, and browse the maps… It is also possible to overlay them to facilitate the search for territorial changes.
Old Maps Online is an excellent tool to immerse yourself in the past. The site features very old maps (17th century) as well as recent ones, and this for the whole world. Choose a place that interests you, the tool then offers you many maps related to the chosen territory. You can consult them directly on the site, or you will be redirected to the sites that offer these maps. These maps are also great resources to illustrate your genealogy.
This collection offers rare maps from the 16th century to the 21st century, mainly of America, but also of the world, Asia, Africa, Europe, and Oceania. Atlases, globes, school maps, nautical maps, and much more, you should be able to find what you are looking for. The collection offers over 4000 maps for France.
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