Research Laboratories of Archaeology


Early Maps of the American South


[updated 1/4/23]

This site contains a large collection of historical maps that pertain to the American South, dating to the sixteenth through eighteenth centuries. They are arranged as follows.

  1. Continental and Regional Maps:
    1. Prints
    2. Manuscripts

  2. Local Maps:
    1. Settlements and Forts (Gulf)
    2. Settlements and Forts (Atlantic)
    3. Harbors and Islands (Gulf Coast)
    4. Harbors and Islands (Atlantic Coast)

  3. Special Topics:
    1. Maps by Dumont de Montigny
    2. Maps by Franquelin
    3. Early French Explorations
    4. French-Indian Wars
    5. American Indian Maps

  4. Archival Collections:
    1. BNF, Service hydrographique de la Marine, Pf 137 (Les deux Carolines et la Géorgie)
    2. BNF, Service hydrographique de la Marine, Pf 138 (Côtes de Floride et de Louisiane)
    3. BNF, Service hydrographique de la Marine, Pf 138 bis (Côte du Golphe du Mexique)
    4. PRO, Colonial Office, North America, CO 700
    5. PRO, Miscellaneous Series
    6. AGI, Maps of Spanish Florida and Louisiana
    7. Museo Naval (Madrid), Maps of Spanish Florida and Louisiana (selected manuscripts)
    8. SGE and SHM, Maps of Spanish Florida and Louisiana (from Cartografía de Ultramar)
    9. Clements Library, University of Michigan (selected manuscripts)
    10. Hargrett Library, University of Georgia (selected manuscripts)

  5. Additional Resources:
    1. Links to Archives, Libraries, and Digital Collections
    2. The Crown Collection of Photographs of American Maps
    3. Pinart's Atlas of French Colonial Maps (1893)
    4. Marcel's Atlas of French Colonial Maps (1893)
    5. Early Maps of the American Midwest and Great Lakes
    6. Early Maps of Colonial Natchez
    7. Colonial Louisiana: Historical Narratives
    8. Colonial Louisiana: Early Architectural Drawings
    9. Colonial Natchez: Early French Documents
    10. The Jesuit Relations and Allied Documents
    11. Complete Works of Jean Delanglez, S.J.

[The documents on this site were compiled by Vincas P. Steponaitis. Please email comments and suggestions to him at vps@email.unc.edu.]