Jeff Bockman just posted a great article on using historic maps on his Genealogy According to Jeff website. This was one of the best how-to articles that we printed in the Jan-Feb 2007 issue of the Helper. Now Jeff has formatted it for the web, and added illustrations & important links. Following is a teaser from within the “Historical Maps Can Help” article:
When I first showed up for work at the Illinois Inspection and Rating Bureau in Chicago, IL, after earning a BS degree in Fire Protection Engineering, I was a little surprised to be presented with a pair of scissors and a jar of glue. One of my first tasks was to “cut & paste” the official updates into the Sanborn Maps for the Chicago area. I guess the one benefit of being a recent college graduate was that they allowed me to use metal scissors with pointed tips! The update for the Sears’ Tower replaced an entire city block. One of my duties as an inspector was to update the maps whenever I found changes. Little did I realize that 35 years later that experience would come in handy when the Sanborn maps became one of the new tools for genealogical research! Unfortunately my job back then was to destroy the historical value of the maps and keep them as current as possible. Fortunately there were others that were saving copies of the historic versions.
