October 2004

History of the New York Subway Map
Why should the London Underground map get all the attention (see previous entry)? The New York Times has a brief story (usual registration caveats) on the origins of the current New York subway map, which dates to 1979. Thanks James….
Backcountry Mapping
Last year there was a story about the people on the ground who do the surveying for the online mapping services (see previous entry). Now there’s a story about the people who do something similar in the middle of nowhere,…
A Geography Textbook of the Confederacy
Now this is odd. The University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill Library has scanned the text of a whole whack of documents from the Civil War era that “demonstrate the Confederate States of America’s unsuccessful attempt to create a…
Denver & Rio Grande Western
This site about the Denver and Rio Grande Western Railroad (now a part of Union Pacific) has a better-than-average collection of maps: not only system maps, but also USGS relief and topo maps, insurance maps, and more. More than enough…
Maps in Teaching
A private school in Texas is using maps in its curriculum as a means of combining art, history and science instruction, the Fort-Worth Star-Telegram reports….
Muslim Cartographers
Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty has a profile of Fuat Sezgin, the director of the Institute for the History of Arabic-Islamic Science at the Johann Wolfgang Goethe University in Frankfurt am Main. He’s just released three new books on cartographers during…
Old Hampshire Maps
Old Hampshire Maps consists, as you might imagine, of scans of old maps of Hampshire, from the 1500s to the 1800s. Via MetaFilter….
Wide World of Maps Profile
If you’re curious about what goes on behind the scenes at map stores, today’s edition of the Arizona Republic has a story about the growth of a Phoenix-area chain — that’s right, chain — of stores, Wide World of Maps….
Six Degrees Voting Map
SixDegreesofVoting.com has an animated map that shows the last 100 signups and their connections to one another — this is a Kevin-Bacon-style project that aims at getting people to encourage their friends to vote. (And they told two friends, and…
Flipping Between Satellite Images and Maps
MultiMap uses JavaScript to toggle between maps and satellite images of a given locale. One of a part of London has been making the rounds of the blogosphere this week (see Boing Boing and MetaFilter)….
Flickr Users’ Map Photos
I’ve been having a lot of fun with Flickr lately. Here are all the photos that Flickr users have tagged with the keyword “maps”. Not only that, but you can get them in an RSS or Atom feed, too….
The BBC’s “Civilisations”
The BBC’s Civilisations is a Flash-based interactive map that shows the rise and fall of empires and civilizations: select the cultures and the speed, press play, and watch the map change as the years go by. (I’m reminded of the…
Garrett Lectures News Coverage
The Shorthorn Online covers last weekend’s Garrett Lectures at the University of Texas at Arlington (see previous entry)….
Getting Out the Vote with GIS
Wired has a story about how GIS is being used to increase voter turnout. Now, get-out-the-vote organizers have started overlaying information from registered voter lists, attaching data such as voter history, party registration or time in the community to every…
SatBlog
SatBlog is a blog about satellite imagery; since its restart last August it’s been focusing mainly on the Middle East (especially Iraq) and on all those bloody hurricanes. A lot of news stories can be illuminated by satellite photography —…
Thirty Days of Attacks
The New York Times has put together an informative map of all the attacks in Iraq over the past 30 days — 2,368 in all. With breakdowns by type: small arms, homemade bombs, etc. Via MetaFilter….
New York Media Map
A neat map of media offices’ New York locations — they do seem to be cheek by jowl, but that just might be Manhattan. Via Things Magazine….
Voting Equipment Map
An Economist article on the controversy about electronic voting equipment in the United States has an interesting (albeit small) map showing what equipment is being used where across the country, from paper ballots and lever machines to punchards and touchscreens….
Historical and Political Maps of the Modern Age
This ambitious Spanish site presents historical maps of the modern period, with the goal of showing the changes in territorial boundaries. It looks like it’s a long way from being complete, but promising nonetheless….
Mapping the Body
The art of Mary Daniel Hobson involves the use of collages on images of the human body. Many of the collages are of old maps; browse the gallery and see what you can find. As early mapmakers used pen and…