About "Map archive"

The stories behind historical maps from Library and Archives Canada's vast collection.

(Map: Saskatchewan. South part. Canada Land Inventory, Land Captability for Wildlife–Waterfowl, 1:1 000 000. Ottawa, Lands Directorate, 1976, Library and Archives Canada, R653, E011177875)

The maps that revolutionized how Canadians profited from the land
Before the Canada Land Inventory, farmers had to rely on instinct and chance to find the best land
Edward A. Smith, A plan of the town, and adjacent fortifications, of, Kingston, 1816, Library and Archives Canada

Edward A. Smith, A plan of the town, and adjacent fortifications, of, Kingston, 1816, Library and Archives Canada, Sir John Coape Sherbrooke fonds, e011081077. (Map courtesy Library and Archives Canada)

Map courtesy Library and Archives Canada
A 200-year-old map offers a glimpse at Kingston's military past
Kingston, Ont. had tremendous military and strategic importance during and after the War of 1812

New map showing the line of the electric cable and other short lines of communication between the continents of Europe and America, Montreal, Roberts & Reinhold, 1866. (Library and Archives Canada, NMC 6906, e011154799)

Map: Library and Archives Canada, NMC 6906, e011154799
Mapping the first transatlantic cable
Looking back 150 years at a watershed moment in global communication
Map

Map: Carte des variations de la boussole et des vents généraux que l'on trouve dans les mers les plus fréquentées, Jacques-Nicolas Bellin, 1765, Library and Archives Canada, NMC 27703, E0027703K

Map: Carte des variations de la boussole et des vents généraux que l'on trouve dans les mers les plus fréquentées, Jacques-Nicolas Bellin, 1765, Library and Archives Canada, NMC 27703, E0027703K
Magnetic maps helped 18th century mariners
How navigators kept track of an unseen force that could affect their course
Map: Thomas Devine, Map of the Northwest Part of Canada Indian Territories & Hudson's Bay, 1857, Library and Archives Canada, NMC 48944, E011165527
First map of Canada's West
An incredibly detailed map designed to inform and inspire settlers
Contradictory Northwest Passage maps
How two maps told two very different tales of a route through Canada’s Arctic in the 18th century
Vintage fire insurance maps
Larger versions of the historical maps seen in the October 2015 issue of Canadian Geographic
Maclear & Co.'s Railway Map of Canada West

Maclear & Co.'s Railway Map of Canada West. (Map courtesy Library and Archives Canada, n0002910)

Map courtesy Library and Archives Canada, n0002910
Vintage railway maps from Library and Archives Canada's collection
Early maps of the railways that shaped our country 

Samuel Holland's famous map of Prince Edward Island. (Map: Samuel Holland, Frederick Haldimand, William Brown, Henry Mowat, A. Robinson, Thomas Wright & Thomas Watt, a plan of the island of St. John in the province of Nova Scotia..., 1765 [1931], Library and Archives Canada, NMC14389)

Library and Archives Canada, NMC14389
Remembering PEI's first modern cartographer
In 1764-65, surveyor Samuel Holland, on orders from the British Crown, created the first truly modern, accurate map of Prince Edward Island
(Map: D.B. Street, Cyclists Road Map, showing all the main travelled roads, Towns, villages etc. between Toronto and London including the Niagara District, 1895, Library and Archives Canada, NMC43015)
(Map: D.B. Street, Cyclists Road Map, showing all the main travelled roads, Towns, villages etc. between Toronto and London including the Niagara District, 1895, Library and Archives Canada, NMC43015)
(Map: D.B. Street, Cyclists Road Map, showing all the main travelled roads, Towns, villages etc. between Toronto and London including the Niagara District, 1895, Library and Archives Canada, NMC43015)
The maps that sparked Canada's bicycle frenzy
Maps like the two pictured here were instrumental in opening up the countryside to urban North American bike owners
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